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THE END OF A GLORIOUS REIGN. 



THE 

BEAUTIFUL LIFE 



AND 



ILLUSTRIOUS REIGN 



OF 



Queen Victoria 



By REV. JOHN RUSK, Ph.D. 



^ MBMO'RIAL VOL\/MB 



An accurate and authentic account of the late 
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of 
India, relating the incidents and events of her public 
and private life, together with a summary of the 
splendid achievements of her reign, sketches of 
Royalty, and of the leading statesmen of her time. 
Also a concise History of England and her Colonies 
during the Victorian Era. ^^^^^^^^^ 



PROFUSELY AND SUPERBLY 

ILLl/STTiA. TE7} 



"Her court was pure, her life serene, 
God gave her peace; her land reposed; 
A thousand claims to reverence closed 
In her as Mother, Wife and Queen." 



-TEafNTSON. 



"T^-> r\ ^ 



5 OON''5HK5S, 
:I.AftR CC/XXO No. 



Copyright, 1901, 

BY 

K. T. BOLAND. 



PREFACE. 



FOR anyone who recognizes the womanly virtues and the royal 
graces of Queen Victoria, the authorship, compilation and edit- 
ing of such a work as this must needs be a labor of love. Few 
undertakings could be more attractive than this to one born a 
subject of the Queen and now a citizen of the great Republic which has 
shared the grief of the British Empire in its loss, to a degree that proves 
how strong are the ties that bind the two countries. 

The purpose of this work is to furnish the reader an ample yet con- 
venient biography of Queen Victoria, the greatest of all the English 
monarchs for several centuries, if not for all time, and to accompany the 
biography with such historical matter as will serve to indicate the won- 
derful progress of the British Empire during the reign which has given 
to the nineteenth century the recognized name of "The Victorian Era." 
The life of the Queen and the history of her realm were so inextricably 
mingled that no volume would serve fully which failed to take cogni- 
zance of her reign as a monarch as truly as of her personality as a 
woman. In brief, then, this work may be accepted as an account of the 
personal life of Victoria of the House of Guelph, her domestic relations 
as child, maiden, wife, mother and widow, her tastes and abilities, her 
characteristics and her friendships, and at the same time as a history 
of the British Empire during the period of her long occupancy of the 
throne. Her influence upon domestic legislation, her stand for peace 
with other powers when wars threatened, her friendship for the United 
States which served us well in the days of the war between North and 
South, the loyalty of the colonies throughout the world, which bound 
the British Empire into a unity stronger than laws could do, all these 
facts are emphasized in due proportion to their importance. 

In the preparation of this work, access has been sought to all 
the more satisfactory sources of information. Long and sympa- 
thetic attention to the history of the British Empire and the life 
and work of the Queen has been supplemented by the mass 
of published contributions to the same subject. Biographies, char- 



8 PREFACE. 

acterizations and studies of Queen Victoria by her private librarian 
and by Jefferson, Barnett Smith, Grace Greenwood, Tooley, Humphrey 
and others have been scrutinized; histories of England which gave due 
consideration to the reign of Victoria have been at hand; lives, reminis- 
cences and memoirs of men and women whose position brought them 
into contact with either the political or the personal life of court and 
kingdom have furnished much of an anecdotal character; biographies 
of Gladstone, Palmerston, Melbourne, Peel, Disraeli, Eosebery and the 
other great prime ministers of the Queen have contributed to the his- 
torical side of the work; finally the "Life of the Prince Consort," super- 
vised and in large degree written by the Queen herself, and her own 
two volumes of "Leaves from Our Journal in the Highlands" have been 
sources of interesting material. 

To all the authors thus laid under tribute as well as to the writers 
of the press who necessarily furnish the later details of the last days 
of the Queen's life, full appreciation and gratitude is tendered for their 
courteous services. It is impossible that new things should be said 
about the life of a monarch whose doings were w^atched and reported in 
detail for more than sixty years. Yet to gather into convenient compass 
the salient features of such a career may be thought not an unimportant 
task. It is in this spirit that the work is offered to the public by 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

The Father and Mother of Victoria — Birth of the Princess — A Welcome Child — 
Stories of Babyhood — Death of the Duke of Kent — Life in Kensington Palace — 
Beginning an Education — On the Sands at Ramsgate — In Royal Society — Opin- 
ions from the Chroniclers of the Day — Anecdotes of Childhood — Nearing 
the Throne 41 

CHAPTER II. 

THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

Princess Victoria Learns That She is Heiress to the Throne — Her First Reception — 
She Attends the Theater — Not Present at the Coronation of William IV. — Her 
Amusements — Journeys with Her Mother — Enthusiastically Received by the 
People — A Narrow Escape From Death — Her Confirmation — The Duke of Coburg 
and His Sons, Ernest and Albert, Visit Kensington Palace — The Ill-Feeling 
Between the King and the Princess' Mother — She Attains her Majority — 'i'j 
Nation Celebrates the Event — Death of King William IV 67 

CHAPTER III. 

THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

Victoria is Informed That She is Queen — How She Received the Tidings — Her First 
Council — Her Address to the Dignitaries — Condition of the Empire at the Time 
of Her Accession — Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister — The Queen Removes 
to Buckingham Palace — Amelioration of the Criminal Laws — Daily Life of Her 
Majesty — Insurrection in the Two Canadas — Reform of the Canadian Constitu- 
tion — The Coronation — "Vyar in China — Difficulties of the Young Sovereign 88 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

Prince Albert's Birthplace — His Early Life — His Engaging Qualities — Princess Vic- 
toria's Attachment for Him — The Queen Proposes Marriage to Him — His Visits 

9 



10 CONTENTS. 

to England — The Queen Informs the Council of Her Intended Marriage — Parlia- 
ment Votes the Prince an Annuity of £30,000 — The Wedding Ceremony at the 
Chapel Royal St. James — A Nation Rejoices 122 

CHAPTER V. 

THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

The Postal System of the United Kingdom — Need of Improvements — Sir Rowland 
Hill and the Penny Post — Opposition to His Plans — Measures for the Protection 
of Child Chimney Sweeps — Attempt of Edward Oxford to Shoot the Queen — 
The Prince Consort Attains His Majority — Birth of the Princess Royal — Acci- 
dent to Prince Albert — Sir Robert Peel Becomes Prime Minister — Birth and 
Christening of the Prince of Wales 153 

CHAPTER VI. 

FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

Terrible News from Afghanistan — ^A Great Tragedy — Attemps of Francis and Bean 
to Shoot Her Majesty — The Queen's First "Visit to Scotland — Birth of the 
Princess Alice — Tom Thumb a Visitor at Windsor Castle — The Emperor of 
Russia Visits the Court — Famine in Ireland — Chartist Meetings — London in 
Terror — Trials of Irish Agitators — Death of Lord Melbourne — The Queen 
Visits Ireland 175 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

Work of the Prince Consort — He Plans a Great World's Fair — Appointment of a 
Royal Commission — Hyde Park Chosen for the Site — Strong Opposition Encoun- 
tered — Building of the Beautiful Crystal Palace — Opening of the Exhibition — 
The Queen's Account of the Ceremony — Great Multitudes Present — Close of the 
Exhibition — Death of the Duke of Wellington — Fire in Windsor Castle — Birth 
of Another Son to the Queen 201 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

War Between Russia and Turkey — England and France Protest at the Plans of the 
Czar — Popular Feeling Against the Prince Consort — The Charge of the Light 
Brigade at Balaklava — Mismanagement in the Crimea — The Emperor and 
Empress of the French Visit England — End of the War in the East — Treaty of 
Peace — Indian Mutinies — Marriage of the Princess Royal — Death of Her 
Majesty's Mother 219 







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Her Majesty the Queen— 1853 

(From Painting at Windsor Castle.) 



CONTENTS. 13 

CHAPTER IX. 

* THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

niness of the Prince Consort — Civil War in the United States — The Trent Affair, 
and the Complications which Grew Out of It— How the Queen and the Prince 
Consort Averted Probable War — A Widowed Queen — Funeral of the Prince Con- 
sort — Eastern Tour of the Prince of Wales — The International Exhibition — 
Marriage of the Prince of Wales — The Queen Visits Netley Hospital — She 
Unveils a Statue of the Prince Consort — Visit to Germany — She Opens the Ses- 
sion of Her Seventh Parliament — ^War in Germany 232 

CHAPTER X. 

YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

Extension of the Elective Franchise — Federation of Canada — Fenian Troubles in 
Ireland — Mr. Gladstone's Irish Church Resolutions — The Queen Visits Switzer- 
land — War Between France and Germany — Marriage of the Princess Louise to 
the Marquis of Lome — Illness of the Prince of Wales— Fatal Accident to a 
Grandson of the Queen — The Prince of Wales Visits India 256 

CHAPTER XI, 

QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

Queen Victoria Becomes the Empress of India — Impressivie Ceremonies at Delhi — 
The Queen's Interest in Her Indian Empire — The Marquis of Lome Appointed 
Governor General of Canada— Death of President Garfield— Another Attempt 
on the Life of the Queen — Death of the Duke of Albany — Marriage of the Prin- 
cess Beatrice — The Colonial and Indian Exhibition — The Queen Visits Liverpool 276 

CHAPTER XII. 

VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

Fifty Years on the Throne — A People's Love and Loyalty — The Cavalcade Passes 
Through the Streets of London — Envoys of Nations in the Parade — Thanks- 
giving Services in Westminster Abbey — The Night Illumination — The Children's 
Festival — Jubilee Honors — Pardons to Military Deserters — Women's Jubilee 
Offering Fund — Review of the Troops at Aldershot — Naval Review at Spithead 
— Jubilee Gift to the Pope 299 



14 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DIAMOND JUBILEE— SIXTY YEARS A QUEEN. 

Thanksgivings of a Nation — The Royal Family at St. George's Chapel — Services in 
the Churches of all Creeds — The Queen Leaves Windsor for the Jubilee Cere- 
monies — Her Reception at Paddington — Proceedings in Parliament — The Pro- 
cession — Beautiful Decorations Along the Route — The Colonial Troops — 
Members of the Royal Families in the Parade — At St. Paul's Cathedral — The 
Night Illuminations — Dinners to the Poor — The Naval Review at Spithead 321 

CHAPTER XIV. 

AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

War with the Boers — Dr. Jameson's Raid — Trouble with the Ashantis — Prince 
Henry of Battenberg Volunteers His Services — He is Taken 111 in Africa — His 
Death — The Queen's Grief — The Remains Brought to England — Imposing 
Funeral Ceremonies — Marriage of the Princess Maud — The Queen Attains the 
Longest Reign of English Sovereigns 339 

CHAPTER XV. 

LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

Troubles in India — Victories in the Soudan — The Battle at Omdurmau — The 
Spanish-American War — The Asiatic Problem — Affairs in South Africa — The 
Queen's Eightieth Birthday — The Boers Declare War — Progress of Hostilities 
— The Relief of Ladysmith — President Kruger Leaves the Transvaal — The 
Queen's Visit to Ireland — The Close of Victoria's Reign 354 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

News of the Queen's Illness Startles the Civilized World — The Royal Family Called 
to Osborne House — Arrival of the Emperor of Germany — Death of the Queen — 
Eulogies of the Press — Panegyrics of the Public — President McKinley Cables 
Condolences to the King — Deep Grief in Canada — Speeches in Parliament — 
Loyalty Pledged the King — Lord Salisbury's Tribute 371 



; • CONTENTS. 15 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

The Journey from Cowes to Portsmouth — Royalty follows the Bier — Order of the 
Proceseion — Arrival of the Train at Victoria Station — The Services at Windsor 
— Foreign Diplomats in Attendance — Exercises in all Parts of the World — Mrs. 
Garfield's Tribute — The Final Ceremonies — Eulogies From Great Men of all 
Lands 401 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

Characteristics of the Queen — Her Love for Animals — Her Domestic Habits — Fond- 
ness for Outdoor Life — She Possessed a Remarkable Memory — Her Homes — 
Royalty Learns Gardening — England's Royal Household — Much of the Queen's 
Time Spent in Reading — Her Favorite Books — Wealth of the Queen — Her 
Many Descendants 448 

CHAPTER XIX. 

A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

Incidents at Court — Mr. Story's Reminiscences — Amusements of the Royal Children 
— Trained to be Musicians — The Queen's Double — The Dawn of a Great Future 
— A Child Reproves the Queen — Carlyle's Brusque Manners — The Shah of Persia 
— "Expediency not in the Dictionary" — A Royal Punster — An Acrobatic Inter- 
lude — The Queen and the Empress Eugenie 470 

CHAPTER XX. 

EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

Sketch of the Career of the New King — ^Different Estimates of His Character — His 
Education—Visit to Canada and the United States — Travels on the Continent 
and in the Holy Land — His Marriage — Grand Master of the Free Masons— The 
Ruler of English Society — His Succession to the Throne — Ancient Ceremonies 
Repeated — Parliament Renews Allegiance — London Given a Glimpse of Medieval 
Times — Gorgeous Processions , 485 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAQB 

Frontispiece 
. 11 

12 
. 21 

22 
. 29 

30 
. 49 

50 
. 51 

52 
. 61 

62 
. 79 



The End of a Glorious Keign . 

Queen Victoria and Family . . 

Queen Victoria — 1853 .... 

Victoria Alexandrina .... 

Osborne House, Where Queen Victoria Died 

Queen Victoria — Taking the Oath 

Queen Victoria — 1870 .... 

Prince Albert — Husband of Queen Victoria 

Edward VIL, King and Emperor 

The Late Queen Victoria and Edward VII. 

Queen Victoria in Coronation Eobes 

Alexandra, Queen and Empress . 

Queen Victoria — 1839 .... 

Queen Victoria — In 60th Year of Her Keign . 

Group Showing Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Consort and four 

Children in Windsor Forest . . . . .80 

Four Generations op English Royal Family . . 89 

Victoria in Wedding Dress . . . . . . 90 

Queen's Favorite Dog, Sharp . . . . • • 91 

Queen Victoria in Her Garden Chaise . . . . .91 

Queen Victoria . . . . . • .92 

The Queen Visiting Highland Tenants .... 101 

St. George's Chapel ....... 102 

Sarcophagus of Albert the Prince Consort .... 119 

Monuments of Beaconsfield and Malcolm .... 120 

Eager for News of the British-Boer War .... 129 

Princess Victoria in 1830— From a Painting Made From Life . 130 
Lord Roberts .......•• 131 

The Marquis of Salisbury, Premier of England . . . 132 

Sir John A. Macdonald . . . • • . . 141 

Alfred Tennyson . . . • • • • 142 

Victoria's Wedding Procession . . . . . . 159 

Kensington Palace, London — Birthplace of Queen Victoria . 160 
Balmoral Castle, Scotland ...... 160 

Albert Memorial — Marble Group ..... 169 



18 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Royal Mausoleum .... 

OoEONATioJT Chair, Westminster Abbey 

Queen's Private Chapel 

Grand Vestibule, Windsor Castle 

German Emperor, William II., and Family 

Duke of York .... 

David Livingstone .... 

Rev. Chas. H. Spurgeon 

Windsor Castle — Main Gate 

Windsor Castle — Queen's Sitting Room 

St. James' Palace . 

Albert Memorial, London 

Excelsior Hotel, Regina, Nice 

House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey 

Windsor Castle — Favorite Home of Queen Victoria in England 

Throne Room, Windsor Castle 

Windsor Castle — Henry VIII. Gate 

One of the Corridors at Windsor Castle 

Buckingham Palace 

Marlborough House 

Lord Mayor Green of London 

Where Lies Oliver Goldsmith 

Tower of London 

Rt. Hon. .William Ewart Gladstone 

Wellington .... 

Benjamin Disraeli 

Daniel O'Connell 

St. Paul's Church 

Empress Frederick . 

Robert Peel 

House of Lords 

Windsor Castle, Side View 

Christ Church College, Oxford . 

Queen Victoria at Various Ages, Plate I. 

Queen Victoria at Various Ages, Plate II. 

Last Moments of Queen Victoria, Scene at Osborne House 

Queen Victoria Lying in State at Osborne House 

Tenants of Osborne Paying Tribute to the Dead Queen 

Arrival of the Crown Prince — Greeting the Kaiser 

Voyage of the "Alberta" Bearing all That was Mortal of the Late 

Queen from Cowes to Portsmouth . . . , 39J 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 19 

FeOM OSBORJfE TO WINDSOR— The OoFFIK LEAVIifG THE POBCH OF 

Osborne House ....... 392 

Funeral of Queen Victoria Passing Through Hyde Park . 409 

Memorial Service in St. George's Chapel, Windsor . . . 4io 

Royal Mourners at Funeral Services in St. George's Chapel . 427 

The Funeral Procbssion Leaving Windsor for Frogmore . . 428 

King Edward VII. 's First Act of Government . . . 445 



THE LIVING DESCENDANTS OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 



Plate I 



1 King Edward VII. 

2 Empress Fbedebigk. 

3 Princess Christian of Sghleswig-Hol- 

BTEIN. 

4 Duchess of Argyll. 

5 dcke of connaught. 

6 Princess Henry of Battenbbbg. 

7 German Emperor. 

8 DiiKH OF York. 

9 Prince Henry of Prussia. 

16 Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstbin. 

11 Grand Duke of Hesse. 

13 Prince Arthur of Cohnaught. 

Plate II , . . , 

1 Crown Princess of Roumania. 
3 Gband Duchess of Hesse. 

3 Hereditary Princess of Hohenlohe>Lan 

genburg. 

4 Princess Beatrice op Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 

5 Princess Margaret op Oonnaught. 

6 Princess Patricia of Connauqht. 

7 German Crown Prince. 

8 Prince Eitel Fritz of Prussia. 
Prince Oscar op Prussia. 

10 Prince Edward op York. 

11 Prince George op York. 
13 Prince Henry of York. 



. 446 



13 Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 

H Prince Alexander of Battenberg. 

15 Prince Maurice of Battenberg. 

16 Prince Leopold op Battenberg. 

17 Duchess op Fife. 

18 Princess Victoria of Wales. 

19 Princess Charles op Denmark. 

20 Princess Aribert op Anhalt. 

31 Princess Victoria op Schleswig-Hol- 

STEIN. 

S3 Princess Alice op Albany. 

23 Princess Louis of Battenberg. 

24 Princess Henry of Prussia. 

. 463 

13 Prince Carol op Roumania. 

14 Prince Alexander op Greece. 

15 Prince Gottfried op Hohenlohe-Lanqen- 

burg. 

16 Prince Frederick William of Hesse. 

17 Prince Maximilian op Hesse. 

18 Prince Wolfgang Maurice op Hesse. 

19 Prince Philip of Hesse. 

20 Princess Henry XXX., op Reuss. 

31 Princess Victoria Louise op Prussia. 

S3 Princess Victoria op York. 

23 Lady Alexandra Dup?. 

24 Lady Maud Duff. 



Plate III . 

1 Grand Duchess Serge op Russia, 

2 Empress op Russia. 

'i Hereditary Princess Charlotte of Saxe- 
Meiningen. 

4 Duchess of Sparta. 

5 Princess Frederick Charles of Hesse. 

3 Princess Adolphus of Schaumburg-Lippe. 
? Princess Victoria Eugenie oi" Baisbs- 

BEBQ. 



464 



8 Grand Duchess Olga op Russia. 

9 Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia. 

10 Grand Duchess Marie op Russia. 

11 Princess Elizabeth of Hessb. 

13 Princess Elizabeth of Roumania. 

13 Princess Marie of Roumania. 

14 Princess Helena of Gbbecb. 




Victoria alexandrima 



LATE QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND EMPRESS 

OP INDIA. 

Victoria, the sixth ruler of the House of Hanover and only child of Edward, 
Duke of Kent, succeeded her uncle, William IV, when eighteen years of age. 
For over sixty-three years she enjoyed a reign unexampled in the history of 
England and is held in reverence by millions of subjects and people all over the 
■world. 




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INTRODUCTION. 



WHEN the great bell of St. Paul's proclaimed to London the 
passing of Queen Victoria, and later when the sad news 
was transmitted over continents and under seas to all 
quarters of the globe, there was only one feeling in all 
hearts — that of love and admiration and tenderest regret and sorrow 
for one whose life and name stood not alone for the sceptered majesty 
of a great kingdom and empire, but also for one of the noblest and 
purest ideals of womanhood. Not only in Great Britain and its de- 
pendencies, but throughout the civilized world, the news was received 
with a keen sense of the greatness with which she had played her part 
both as woman and as queen. It was the especial merit of the 
Queen so to fill the functions of rulership as to exercise a positive 
influence. By precept and example, by her eminent qualities of good 
sense and kindliness, by her strength of character and her love of 
peace, she did much to make the nation great and to secure the 
advancement of the world at large. 

Kindred in race and blood, speaking the same tongue and claiming 
part of the same glorious heritage of ancient renown, America stood 
side by side with Britannia at Victoria's bier. For the Queen who lay 
dead at Osborne ruled with such a gentle and gracious sway as to 
extend her dominion beyond the borders of her great empire and exact 
the tribute of respect, admiration and love from all. Americans have 
warm hearts, and recognize their friends, whoever they may be. And 
in Queen Victoria, throughout her long life, this country always had a 
firm friend. In the dark days of civil strife and war, when some of her 
statesmen faltered and declared the Union w^as about to be dissolved, 
Queen Victoria was steadfast and never ceased to uphold the side and 
cause she believed to be for the right and whose triumph would mean 
most for advancing humanity. It is a matter of history that but for 
her influence England probably would have gone to war with the 
United States over the Slidell and Mason affair, and in the early days 
of the Spanish- American trouble it is now known that Queen Victoria 

23 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

also expressed to the President of the United States her belief in tlie 
righteousness of America's cause and assured him of England's friend- 
ship and sympathy. 

In Europe, also, her name was a bulwark of peace. Connected by 
ties of relationship with most of the crowned heads of Europe, all 
European rulers were ready to strain a point, if need be, to keep on 
terms of amity with the empire over which Victoria ruled. Like 
Alexander III. of Russia, "the peacemaker of Europe," Queen Vic- 
toria's counsel and influence always were cast on the side of peace. 
That events which were too strong for her to overrule led to the South 
African war and its many disasters, was the greatest sorrow of the 
closing days of her life. This tragic finale to her reign adds a pathos 
to her death, which was probably hastened by worry and sorrow over 
the South African tragedy and events she felt herself powerless to 
control. And it is significant of the place Victoria held in the world's 
heart that no one, not even the embattled Boers of South Africa, held 
her responsible for the mistakes which precipitated England's most 
disastrous war of the century. 

It is a noteworthy fact that while the changing conditions since she 
was crowned in 1837 have tended to reduce greatly the specific powers 
of sovereignty, she accepted the natural trend of events with equa- 
nimity, steadily gaining in esteem and afi'ection as the years passed. 
Never was she more sincerely revered and loved than during the decade 
just closed; never was the quiet force of her influence more gen- 
erally recognized. The whole period embraced in the Victorian era 
has been the period of Great Britain's greatest imperial development. 
The statesmen who were her advisers when she came to the throne, a 
girl of eighteen, seem now to have belonged to an entirely different 
epoch, so great has been the change in the political world and in the 
currents and tendencies of intellectual life. In all this process of 
growth Victoria exercised a wholesome, if passive, influence. She met 
new burdens and honors with dignity; she kept before the British 
public high ideals of principle and conduct; and if the political growth 
and material prosperity of England are not directly traceable to her, 
her essential goodness and her well-poised character have at least 
done much to maintain the sentiments of confidence and patriotism 
which tend most to make for a nation's happiness. 

From the very beginning of the Queen's reign her desires and her 



INTRODUCTION. «5 

views made themselves felt. It is even credited in large degree to her 
that the Ministry of Lord Melbourne, to which she was friendly, re- 
mained in power for four years after her accession before succumbing 
to a hostile majority in the House of Commons. Important legislation 
of great consequence to the national policies and the liberties of the 
people filled the early years of Victorians reign, and the kingdom was 
long disturbed by domestic puzzles. Eeforms of the poor laws, the es- 
tablishment of the policy of free trade with the abolishment of the 
corn laws, educational and religious controversy over the Church in 
Ireland and Scotland, the potato famine in Ireland and the widespread 
distress resulting, reforms in the electoral laws, extension of the fran- 
chise, destruction of the "pocket boroughs," abolishment of the pur- 
chase of commissions in the army, Irish land legislation and its asso- 
ciated problems, labor acts in reference to the unions and the removal 
of disabilities of various sorts from Roman Catholics and Jews — these 
have been among the noteworthy questions in the domestic affairs of 
Great Britain seeking solution during the nation's longest reign. 

The outlook in domestic affairs before King Edward VII. is by no 
means as puzzling as that which faced his mother at the beginning of 
her reign. The relations of man to man and man to government in 
Great Britain have been thrashed out in the last sixty years with as- 
tonishing fullness. The country has its liberties, the people have the 
ballot, the government is responsible and responsive to the popular 
will, and many a lesson has been learned in the sixty years. 

In international affairs, too, it is a very different world from that 
which Victoria entered as a monarch. Invention and discovery have 
brought countries into closer knowledge of each other, knowledge has 
solved puzzles and allayed antagonisms. The Queen was young in the 
days of revolution, the days of Kossuth, Mazzini, Garibaldi, and the 
struggles of France. In her time Europe has changed much and the 
relations of the nations have changed more. The great powers have 
become greater, in Europe and in their foreign possessions, and the 
smaller ones are vanishing factors. International problems to be faced 
may be greater to-day than they were when the Queen came to the 
throne, but they surely are much more clearly defined and by con- 
solidation are reduced in number from what they were then. 

Victoria was a powerful influence in retaining for England the 
loyalty of the British colonies. She saw Canada and Australia 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

complete schemes of federation which make them nations in all but 
name. She saw India become her empire from the doubtful status 
of company government out of which the great country has issued. 
She saw South Africa rise to wealth and strength, only to furnish 
the war which saddened her life in its last year. To what extent the 
new monarch and his successors may be able to inspire such loyalty as 
the colonists felt for the Queen is one of the most important questions 
which imperial Great Britain may need to answer. 

Victoria renewed the vitality and replenished the stock of the royal 
family, so that the empire need no longer fear a failure in the succes- 
sion. When she came to the throne the royal line was virtually at an 
end. Mother of nine children, her descendants have multiplied into 
the most numerous of all royal families of to-day. More than that, by 
intermarriage Victoria has been mother, mother-in-law or grand- 
mother to royalty in virtually the whole of Protestant Europe, thus 
making for peaceful relations and unity of action in many times of 
crisis. 

Queen Victoria rehabilitated royalty in the mind of the English 
people. A few years ago there were those who prophesied that she 
would be the last British monarch, so definite were the republican 
tendencies of the country and so uncertain were the people as to what 
sort of a king Albert Edward of Wales would make. But her life as 
woman and queen conquered the hearts of her people, and to-day no 
voice is heard to suggest that the house of Guelph is nearing the end 
of its reign. 

The change of rulers comes at a time when the empire is beset with 
dangers and difficulties. After an era which is destined to be as dis- 
tinctive in British history as the era of Elizabeth, it was Victoria's 
fate to see the British empire embarrassed by war and apparently los- 
ing its primacy among the nations of the earth. Whether it has not 
actually passed the climax of its greatness and is now on the point of 
a retrograde movement is a question yet to be determined. The cir- 
cumstances under which Albert Edward has assumed the sovereign 
power, as King Edward VII., are therefore peculiarly trying, but 
thoughtful observers will be slow to conclude that as king he will fail 
to satisfy the needs and expectations of the British people. The oldest 
son of the great Queen has an enormous personal popularity both in 
England and among Englishmen who have migrated to British depen- 



INTRODUCTION. 

dencies and he is endowed with tact to a remarkable degree. How^- 
ever England may have looked upon its heir-apparent twenty years 
ago, in the recent years during which he has been called upon to per- 
form most of the public and ceremonial functions of the monarch, act- 
ing as Victoria's representative, he has shown dignity and discretion. 
His reign in all probability will be comparatively brief, but there is 
good reason to believe that he will be guided by safe and sober con- 
servatism and will be a highly popular monarch. If the present threat- 
ened change in Great Britain's political and commercial status is 
going to make new plans and policies necessary, moreover, be will 
have an advantage in the fact that he is not too old to become recon- 
ciled to changes or to help in putting them into effect. At the outset 
of his reign he will find on every hand impressive illustrations of the 
power and usefulness of the British sovereign who rules as Victoria 
ruled — with honesty of purpose, largeness of heart and an unwavering 
love of her subjects. 

As to her epitaph, that is characteristic and was written by her- 
self against the time, now at hand, when she should be laid in the 
marble sarcophagus at Frogmore beside that of Prince Albert: 

"Victoria- Albert, 
Here at last I shall 
Rest with thee; 
With thee in Christ 
Shall rise again." 




Queen Victoria Taking Oath 

(From a Painting ma-de from Life.) 




Queen Victoria, 1870 



THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE AND ILLUSTRIOUS REIGN 



OF 



QUEEN VICTORIA. 



CHAPTER I. 
IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

The Father and Mother of Victoria— Birth of the Princess— A Welcome Cliild— Stories of 
Babyhood— Death of the Dulie of Kent— Life in Kensington Palace— Beginning an Ed- 
ucation—On the Sands at Ramsgate — In Boyal Society — Opinions from the Chroniclers 
of the Day— Anecdotes^of Childhood— Nearing the Throne. 

IT IS the life history of a queenly woman and a womanly queen 
which is recorded here. Had Victoria been less worthy as a 
woman she could not have been so great as a Queen. Every event 
in her younger days, therefore, which throws light upon her char- 
acter, her surroundings and her training is worth recording here in 
order that the source of her goodness and her greatness may be traced. 
Let us, therefore, see into what manner of life the future Sovereign of 
the British Empire was born. The laws of heredity and of environment 
make no distinction between King and peasant; and it is to the parent- 
age and early training of the Queen that we must look to see how her 
character, so distinguished by womanly virtues and domestic graces, 
has been molded. 

We find that her father, Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of 
George III., was deservedly known as the "Popular Duke." He was a 
tall, stately man of soldierly bearing, characterized by courteous and 
engaging manners, and was generous to a fault. He was connected 
with no less than sixty-five charitable organizations at the time of his 
death. 

Fit complement to the soldier-Duke was the Queen's mother, who, 
without being a beauty, was a charming and attractive woman, elegant 

41 



43 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

in figure, with fine brown eyes and luxuriant brown hair. She was 
warmly affectionate, free and gracious in her manner, but withal a 
duchess of duchesses to her finger-tips, as after events showed. Above 
everything else, she was distinguished for motherly devotion and the 
domestic virtues. It was these characteristics which caused the Duke 
of Kent to fall in love with her. He was entrusted in 1818, by Prince 
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, afterward King of Belgium, then in retire- 
ment at Claremont mourning his young wife, the beloved Princess 
Charlotte, with letters to his sister, the Princess of Leiningen, Victoria 
Mary Louisa, who was a young widow living a retired life in her castle 
at Amorbach, Bavaria, superintending the education of her two chil- 
dren. The Duke of Kent, a bachelor of fifty, was entirely charmed by 
the picture of domestic felicity which he found when he arrived at 
Castle Amorbach, and in due time became the affianced husband of the 
widowed Princess. 

They were married at Coburg on the 29th of May, 1818, according to 
the rites of the Lutheran Church, and remarried in England shortly 
afterwards at a private ceremony at Kew Palace, after which they 
returned to Bavaria. The prospect of the bii-th of a child, however, 
made the Duke of Kent anxious to bring his wife to England, so that 
his coming heir might be "Briton-born." He thought at first of taking 
a house in Lanarkshire, in which case the Queen would have been bora 
a Scotchwoman; but he finally decided on a suite of rooms at Kensing- 
ton Palace. Brave indeed was the Duchess of Kent to quit her native 
land and her kindred to undertake a tedious journey by land and sea 
within a short time of her confinement. So solicitous was the Duke for 
her safety that throughout the whole of the journey by land he suffered 
no one to drive her but himself. The Duchess reached Kensington Pal- 
ace in safety, and at four o'clock on the morning of the 24th of May, 
1819, a pretty little Princess was born, who, according to Baron Stock- 
mar, was as "plump as a partridge." The birth took place at about 
four a. m., and it was immediately notified to the Ministers and Privy 
Councillors, who had assembled in an adjoining room, and amongst 
whom were the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Wellington, the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, Lord Lansdowne, the Bishop of London, and 
George Canning. 

Although several lives stood between the infant Princess and the 
throne, her father had a prophetic instinct that she was destined to be 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY, 4S 

Queen of England. "Take care of her," he would say; "she may yet be 
Queen of England." No disappointment was ever expressed that the 
child was a girl. The grief which had filled the country when the Prin- 
cess Charlotte died showed that the people were eager for a Queen, a 
sentiment referred to by the Dowager Duchess of Coburg when writing 
congratulations to her daughter, the Duchess of Kent. "Again a Char- 
lotte," she writes, "destined perhaps to play a great part one day, if a 
brother is not born to take it out of her hands. The English like 
Queens, and the niece of the ever-lamented, beloved Princess Charlotte 
will be most dear to them." It was Grandmamma of Coburg who 
named the new-comer the blossom of May. "How pretty the little May- 
flower will be," she writes, "when I see it in a year's time! Siebold 
[the nurse] cannot suflficiently describe what a dear little love it is." 
Siebold was a lady doctor from Berlin, popularly known as "Dr. Char- 
lotte," who attended the Duchess of Kent at her confinement, she hav- 
ing declined the services of the male physicians in attendance at the 
Palace. Three months later Dr. Charlotte returned to Germany to 
officiate at th^ birth of a little Prince, one day to be the husband of his 
pretty cousin the "Mayflower," who was merrily crowing in the old 
Palace of Kensington. When the children were in their cradles, that 
charming and vivacious old lady. Grandmamma of Coburg, with match- 
making propensity, wrote of little Prince Albert, "What a charming 
pendant he would be to the pretty cousin!" Unfortunately she was not 
spared to see the day when her fondest wish was realized by the mar- 
riage of her grandson with her granddaughter, the "Mayflower," who 
had blossomed into a sweet young Queen. 

Nothing could have been more propitious than the birth of the 
Queen. She was a thrice-welcome child, born of a happy union between 
parents distinguished for goodness and piety, and from the hour of her 
birth she basked in the sunshine of love. She came when the world of 
nature was fresh and jubilant — ^the sweet spring-time, when birds were 
singing, trees budding, and the air fragrant with the odor of flowers. 
Small wonder that she was a lovely baby. She had flaxen hair, blue 
eyes, a fair skin, and was the picture of health — chubby, rosy, beauti- 
fully formed, and of a happy, lively disposition. The Duchess of Kent 
nursed her at her own breast, and in the absence of the Princess^ spe- 
cial nurse, Mrs. Brock, dressed and. undressed the little one herself. 
Robert Owen, the Socialist, is said to have been the first man who held 



44 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

the Princess in his arms, he having called to see the Duke of Kent on 
business shortly after her arrival. 

The christening of the infant Princess took place in the Grand 
Saloon of Kensington Palace, the gold font from the Tower being 
brought for the occasion. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
Bishop of London officiated. The sponsors were the Prince Regent in 
person, the Emperor Alexander of Russia, represented by the Duke of 
York, the Queen-Dowager of Wurtemberg, represented by the Princess 
Augusta, and the Dowager Duchess of Coburg, represented by the 
Dowager Duchess of Gloucester. The Duke of Kent was anxious that 
his "little Queen" should be named Elizabeth, but the Prince Regent 
gave the name Alexandrina, after the Emperor of Russia, upon which 
the Duke asked that another name might be associated with it; then 
the Prince Regent, who according to Greville was annoyed that the 
infant was not to be named Georgiana, after himself, said, "Give her 
her mother's name also." Accordingly the Princess was named Alex- 
andrina Victoria. For a while she was called Princess Alexandrina or 
"little Drina;" but gradually her mother's name prevailed, and she was 
known only as the Princess Victoria. This choice was confirmed by the 
Queen herself when she signed her first State document simply Vic- 
toria. Shortly after the christening the Duchess of Kent was publicly 
"churched" at St. Mary Abbott's^ Kensington, the Duke himself con- 
ducting her with much ceremony to the communion table. 

The first eight months of the Queen's life were passed at Kensington 
Palace, where glimpses of her, laughing and crowing at her nursery 
window, were often caught by strollers through the Gardens. The 
Duke was always pleased to have her shown to the people, and when 
she was only four months old took her in the carriage with him to a 
review on Hounslow Heath. The Prince Regent, annoyed at the atten- 
tion which she created, sharply remonstrated, saying, "That infant is 
too young to be brought into public." At three months old the Princess 
was vaccinated, and was the first royal baby to be inoculated after the 
method of Jenner. 

In order to escape the rigor of the winter, the Duke and Duchess 
removed, at the end of the year, with their dai'ling child, into Devon- 
shire, staying at Woolbrook Glen, Sidmouth, a lovely retreat lying back 
from the sea, and surrounded by picturesque grounds. 

There is no more charming glimpse of this period of the Queen'i 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 45 

infancy than is recorded by Mrsw Marshall in her "Recollections of 
Althea Allingham." The Allinghams were living at Sidmouth at the 
time of the royal visit, and we get this graphic picture of the local 
interest it elicited. 

"I have just heard a piece of news," Oliffe said. "The Duke of Kent 
has taken the 'Glen' at the farther end of the village, and the servants 
are expected to-morrow to put the place in order for the Duke and 
Duchess of Kent and the little Princess Victoria." Sidmouth was 
elated at the prospect of receiving the royal party, and Mrs. Ailing- 
ham's little daughters were full of anxiety to see the baby Princess. 
Their expectations were soon realized, and they frequently saw her 
being taken out for her daily airing. Mrs. Allingham thus describes 
her: "She was a very fair and lovely baby, and there was, even in her 
infant days, a charm about her which has never left our gracious 
Queen. The clear, frank glance of her large blue eyes, and the sweet 
but firm expression of her mouth, were really remarkable, even when a 
baby of eight months old." 

One bright January morning the Allinghams were returning from 
an excursion, when they met the Duke and Duchess of Kent, "linked 
arm in arm," the nurse carrying the little Princess, who looked lovely 
in a white swansdown hood and pelisse, and was holding out her hand 
to her father. He took her in his arms as the party drew up in line, 
respectfully waiting, uncovered and curtseying. 

"Stella exclaimed: 'What a beautiful baby!' 

"The Duchess hearing, smiled and said, 'Would you like to kiss the 
baby?' 

"Stella colored with delight, and looked at me [Mrs. Allingham] 
for permission. 

"The Duke kindly held the little Princess down towards Stella, and 
said: 

" 'I am glad my little May blossom finds favor in your eyes.' 

"Then a shout was heard from the donkey where Stephen sat. 

" 'Me, too, please, Duke.' 

"Instead of being in the least shocked with my boy's freedom, the 
Duke laughed, saying: 

" 'Dismount, then.' 

"Stephen scrambled down, and coming up received the longed-for 
kiflft. 



4« IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

" ^Father calls Stella and Benvennta his May blossoms^' Stephen 
volunteered. 

" 'And you may be proud of them/ the Duke said, as he gave the 
Princess back into her nurse's arms; and the Duchess, with repeated 
bows and smiles, passed on." 

The same month, January, 1820, the baby Princess had a narrow 
escape from death. A youth, who had obtained a gun, fired at some 
small birds so near to the residence of their Eoyal Highnesses that the 
charge broke the nursery windows and some of the shot passed quite 
close to the head of the infant Princess, then in the arms of her nurse. 
The offender was brought before the Duke, but, owing to the kindliness 
of disposition of His Eoyal Highness, he escaped with a reprimand on 
promising not to i)ursue his pleasures so recklessly. 

There seemed little probability that the baby Princess would ever 
become Queen of England. The Duke of Kent, her father, was but the 
fourth son of George III., but a series of unexpected events soon 
brought his daughter nearer the throne. Upon the death of the deeply- 
lamented Princess Charlotte, only child of George IV., the Duke of 
York, his next younger brother, had become heir presumptive to the 
crown. His Eoyal Highness had no children, however, so the Duke of 
Clarence, third son of George III., came next in succession. He had 
married, and his wife, the Princess Adelaide, bore him a daughter, 
who, if she had lived, would in the natural order of things have become 
Queen. But this child died in infancy, leaving the Princess Victoria 
the only scion of the next generation of the royal stock. 

The stay at Sidmouth was destined to have a sad and fatal termina- 
tion. The Duke of Kent was seized with a severe indisposition, occa- 
sioned by delaying to change his wet boots after a, walk through the 
snow. Affection for his child had drawn him to the nursery imme- 
diately on reaching home. To a severe chill succeeded inflammation of 
the chest, with high fever, which resulted fatally. The Duke was per- 
haps more highly esteemed than any other son of George III. His 
public conduct was judicious and self-sacrificing. In the army he 
initiated many healthful reforms; after he ceased from active service 
in It, he interested himself in humanitarian movements of all kinds, 
especially devoting himself to the cause of the widow and the orphan. 
The result was, that he became known as the "Popular Duke," and no 
royal personage ever better deserved the title. He was of regular and 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 4:lf 

temperate habits, kind to all, and the firm friend of those who put their 
trust in him. His generosity was such that it frequently outran discre- 
tion, causing embarrassment to himself; but the poor had the benefit 
of it. The Duke was officially connected with sixty-two societies, every 
one of which was devoted to some noble religious or charitable object. 
The personal virtues of the Duke, the love he bore his country, and the 
untiring exertions he displayed in the cause of philanthropy and reli- 
gion, Justly gave him a high place in the affections of his fellow- 
countrymen. It was auspicious that the Queen should have had such 
a father, for many of his traits, with the gentleness and uprightness 
which distinguished the mother, descended in large measure upon the 
child. 

Two days after the death of the Duke, the Duchess of Kent, accom- 
panied by her babe and her brother. Prince Leopold, se;t out for Lon- 
don. Where all was sad and mournful there was one gleam of sun- 
shine; for the infant, "being held up at the carriage window to bid the 
assembled population of Sidmouth farewell, sported and laughed joy- 
ously, and patted the glasses with her pretty dimpled hands, in happy 
unconsciousness of her melancholy bereavement." The likeness of the 
Duke of York to her lost father deceived the little Princess Victoria, 
and when the former came on his visit of condolence, and also subse- 
quently, she stretched out her hands to him in the belief that he was 
her father. The Duke was deeply touched by the appeal, and clasping 
the child to his bosom, he promised to be indeed a father to her. Many 
addresses of condolence were received by the Duchess, and as she gen- 
erally received them with her infant in her arms, there was frequently 
a painful contrast witnessed between the tear-stained face of the 
mother and the happy countenance, wreathed with smiles, of the 
daughter. 

In his "Keminiscences" Prince Leopold says: "The Duchess, who 
had lost a most amiable and devoted husband, was in a state of the 
greatest distress. The poor Duke had left his family deprived of all 
means of subsistence. The journey to Kensington was very painful, 
and the weather very severe." From this time forward we find Prince 
Leopold acting as a father and guardian to his little niece, Victoria. 
It was he who generously supplemented the jointure of £6,000 which 
the Duchess of Kent received from the country, and enabled her to 
rear our future Queen in a manner befitting her position. By her 



48 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

second marriage the Duchess had sacrificed her dowry, and she con- 
scientiously yielded the Duke of Kent's estate to his creditors, so that 
all that remained to her was her jointure. 

On January 29, the same day on which the Duchess and her infant 
returned to Kensington, George III. died, and was succeeded by the 
Prince Regent. This event, coupled with her father's death, placed the 
Princess two lives nearer to the throne. The Duchess, doubtless 
actuated by these circumstances, determined to rear her child in the 
land over which she might eventually rule, and gave up her own nat- 
ural desire to return to Bavaria. Speaking of herself and infant at this 
time, she says: "We stood alone — almost friendless and alone in this 
country; I could not even speak the language of it. I did not hesitate 
how to act; I gave up my home, my kindred, my duties [the regency of 
Leiningen] to devote myself to that duty which was to be the whole 
object of my future life." 

Thus nobly did the Duchess of Kent start Uj^jon her important work 
— no light task — the training of a queen. From that day forward she 
lived at Kensington in stately seclusion, watching over the young 
"Hope of England," who was never allowed to be an hour out of her 
sight. From the day of her father's death until she ascended the 
throne, the Queen had never passed a night outside her mother's bed- 
chamber. She had never been seen in public or even heard of except 
in conjunction with her mother. 

Poor and almost friendless, for she was ill regarded by her royal 
brothers-in-law, the widowed Duchess of Kent and her tiny baby suf- 
fered much until Prince Leopold, brother of the Duchess and little 
Victoria's uncle, assumed a voluntary guardianship over them both. 
The child's paternal uncles, George IV. and William IV., were never 
complaisant to the unhappy Duchess. King George often threatened 
to take the little Princess from her mother, and the succession of Clar- 
ence who became the fourth King William did not mend their family 
affairs. The Princess Victoria did not attend his coronation and all 
the relations of the Duchess of Kent with her English brother-in-law 
were harsh and unhappy. 

The apartments occupied by the Duchess of Kent and the Princess 
Victoria were in the southeast portions of the Palace, beneath the 
King's gallery. They are now unused; but a visitor will find in one of 
the rooms on the principal floor, having three windows looking east- 




Pbince Axbebt— Husband of Queen Victoria 

The above is a portrait of Prince Albert, painted about the time of his marriage to Queen Victons. 
Because of the British feeling toward the Germans, he was not especially favored by the British 
Government at the time of the marriage, but he proved so able a man, and helped guide the Ship of 
State with such wisdom, that the whole world today pays reverence to his memory and his identity 
tea entered British history as Albert the Good. 




Edwaku VII— King of Great Britain and Ireland, 
AND Emperor of India 

Was born at Buckingham Palace, November 9, 1841; Created Prince of Wales, De- 
cember 4, 1841; Visited United States and Canada, 1860; General of British Army, 
1862, and Field Marshal, 1875; Married Princess Alexandra of Denmark, March 10, 
1863; Grand Master of British Masons, 1874; Visited Egypt and India, 1875; Visited 
Ireland, 1885: Attended wedding of Czar's daughter at St. Petersburg, April, 1894; 
Grand Master of the Bath, 1897; Represented the Queen at Naval Review of Jubilee, 
1897; Proclaimed King January 23, 1901. 




The Late Queei^ op Great BRiTAm Aim Ireland, Victoria, ani> King 

Edward VII 




Qtjeex Victobia in Coronation Robes 

"Tremendous events have marked the 19th century; magnificent men have been 
participants, but in the white light of them all, none have shown fairer than the 
maiden Queen, the wifely Queen, the widowed Queen, and everywhere the people's 
Queen." 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 53 

ward over Kensington Gardens, a gilt plate upon the wall, with this 
inscription : 

IN THIS ROOM 

QUEEN VICTORIA 

WAS BORN, 

MAY 24, 1819. 

A room on the top floor served as the Princess' nursery, and in one 
corner still stands a doll's house, a headless horse, and the model of a 
ship, remnants of the toys which delighted her rather monotonous 
childhood. 

Here, in the old Palace which in days gone by had been the stately 
abode of kings and queens and the scene of gay court revels, the Prin- 
cess was nurtured in all that was simple, loving and pure. She had a 
natural home life free from the formalities of a court. The one mis- 
fortune was that she had no companions of her own age: 

" For her there was no mate, 
A royal child of power and state." 

Her step-sister, the Princess Feodore (daughter of the Duchess of 
Kent by her first marriage), was eleven years her senior, and though 
the little Princess was devotedly attached to her as an elder sister, she 
was no playmate for her. 

Interesting stories are told of the times when Princess Victoria 
appeared, at fifteen months old, in a child's phaeton, tied safely to the 
vehicle with a broad ribbon round her waist. Her step-sister, Princess 
Feodore, would draw the child in this carriage. The baby liked to be 
noticed, and answered all who spoke to her : she would say "lady" and 
"good morning," and, when told, would hold out her soft dimpled hand 
to be kissed, with an arch expression on her face. "Her large blue eyes, 
beautiful bloom, and fair complexion, made her a model of infantile 
beautj^" On one occasion she was nearly killed by the upsetting of the 
pony carriage. A private soldier, named Maloney, claimed the honor 
of having saved England's future sovereign on this occasion. He was 
walking through Kensington Gardens, when he saw a very small pony 



54 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

carriage, in which was seated a child. The pony was led by a page, a 
lady walked on one side, and a young woman beside the chaise. A 
large water dog having got between the pony's legs, the startled pony 
made a sudden plunge on one side, and brought the wheels of the car- 
riage on to the pathway. The child was thrown out head downwards, 
and woul^ in a moment have been crushed beneath the weight of the 
carriage, then toppling over, had not Maloney grasped her dress before 
she came to the ground, and swung her into his arms. He restored her 
to the lady, and was praised by a number of persons, who speedily col- 
lected, for rescuing "the little Drina," as the child was called. He was 
told to follow the carriage to the Palace, where he received a guinea, 
and the thanks of the Duchess of Kent, for "saving the life of her dear 
child, the Princess Alexandrina." Such was the statement of Maloney, 
made late in life, and published in the daily journals. 

William Wilberforce had a very early introduction to the Princess 
Victoria, and the way in which he records it testifies to the childlike 
simplicity of his own nature. Writing to Hannah More on the 21st of 
July, 1820, he says: "In consequence of a very civil message from the 
Duchess of Kent I waited on her this morning. She received me, with 
her fine animated child on the floor by her side, with its playthings, of 
which I soon became one." 

The Princess was brought up in the most simple and regular style 
of living, her whole surroundings being utterly devoid of the pomp and 
show of royalty. In this early training we find the foundations of that 
love of simplicity and frugality which always distinguished the 
gracious Queen. 

The little Princess' day was passed in the following manner. She 
rose early, and breakfasted at eight o'clock in the pretty morning-room 
of the Palace, sitting beside her mother in a little rosewood chair, a 
table to match in front of her on which was placed her bread and milk 
and fruit, her nurse standing beside her. After breakfast her half- 
sister, the Princess Feodore, retired with her governess, Friiulein 
Lehzen, to study, and the little Victoria mounted her donkey, a present 
from her uncle, the Duke of York, and rode round Kensington Gardens. 
From ten to twelve she received instruction from her mother, assisted 
by Fraulein Lehzen; then came a good romp through the long suite of 
rooms with her nurse, Mrs. Brock, whom she affectionately called her 
"dear, dear Boppy." At two o'clock she dined plainly at her mother's 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 55 

luncheon table, afterwards came lessons again until four o'clock, then 
she went with her mother for a drive, or, if the weather was hot, spent 
the afternoon in the Gardens under the trees, coming out early in the 
evening for a turn in her little pony-chaisc; The Duchess dined at 
seven o'clock, at which time the Princess supped at the same table on 
bread and milk; she then retired for a little play in a farther part of 
the room along with "dear Boppy," joining her mother again at des- 
sert. At nine o'clock she went to her little French bed with its pretty 
chintz hangings, placed beside that of her mother. An occasional visit 
to Windsor to see her "Uncle King," as she called His Majesty George 
IV., a sojourn at Claremont with her adored Uncle Leopold, and a few 
weeks at the sea in autumn, w^ere the only breaks in her little life. 

On her fourth birthday she had a great excitement, no less than 
being bidden by "Uncle King" to attend a State dinner party with 
her mother at Carlton House. She was dressed for the occasion in a 
simple white frock looped up on the left sleeve by a miniature of the 
King, set in diamonds, His Majesty's birthday present to his little niece, 
whose vivacious manners seemed to have delighted him vastly. 

The education of the Princess Victoria was conducted at first by 
her mother with the help of Fraulein Lehzen, who at a later date was 
formally appointed her governess, and remained with the Queen as 
confidential secretary for a number of years after her accession. The 
Princess learned her letters at her mother's knee, but not very will- 
ingly, and we find Grandmamma of Coburg taking sides with the little 
truant. She writes to her daughter, "Do not tease your little puss with 
learning. She is so young still," adding that her grandson, Prince 
x\lbert, was making eyes at a picture-book. When it was made clear to 
the Princess that until the ABC was mastered she could not read 
books like her mother, she replied with alacrity, "Me learn too, very 
quick;" and she did, for there was no lack of ability. Her regular edu- 
cation began in her fifth year. In response to a message from His 
Majesty, Parliament voted an annual grant of £6,000 to the Duchess of 
Kent for the education of the young Princess. A suitable preceptor 
was now sought for, and the choice of the Duchess fell upon the Rev. 
George Davys, afterw'ards Bishop of Peterborough. She made it a rule 
that the Bible should be daily read to the young Princess. The Duchess 
confided fully in Dr. Davys; and when it was suggested to her, after 
her daughter became direct heir to the throne, that some distinguished 



66 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

prelate should be appointed instructor, she expressed her perfect 
approval of Dr. Davys, and declined any change; but hinted that if a 
clergyman of superior dignity were indispensable to fill the important 
oflace of tutor, there would be no objection to Dr. Davys receiving the 
preferment he had always merited. Earl Grey acted upon the hint, 
and made Dr. Davys Dean of Chester not long afterwards. The Bar- 
oness Lehzen was also retained through the whole term of the Princess' 
education, and proved an excellent instructress. After six years spent 
under the care of her tutors, the Princess could lay claim to cohsider- 
able accomplishments. Owing to the exercise of unusual natural 
abilities, she could speak French and German with fluency, and was 
acquainted with Italian; she had made some progress in Latin, being 
able to read Virgil and Horace with ease; she had commenced Greek, 
and studied mathematics, in which difficult science she evinced much 
proficiency; and she had likewise made considerable progress in music 
and drawing. 

Occasionally the child longed for companions of her own age, and a 
delightful anecdote is related in illustration of this. As the youthful 
Princess took great delight in music, her mother sent for a noted child 
performer of the day, called Lyra, to amuse her with her remarkable 
performances on the harp. On one occasion, while the young musician 
was playing one of her favorite airs, the Duchess of Kent, perceiving 
how deeply her daughter's attention was engrossed with the music, left 
the room for a few minutes. When she returned she found the harp 
deserted. The heiress of England had beguiled the juvenile minstrel 
from her instrument by the display of some of her costly toys, and the 
children were discovered, "seated side by side on the hearthrug in a 
state of high enjoyment, surrounded by the Princess' playthings, from 
which she was making the most liberal selections for the acceptance 
of poor little Lyra." The chronicler of this incident states that among 
the flowery bowers of Claremont the Queen's education was informally 
yet delightfully promoted by the conversation of her accomplished 
uncle. Prince Leopold, who, taking advantage of the passionate love 
his young niece and adopted daughter manifested for flowers, gave her 
familiar lessons in botany, a science in which he greatly excelled. A 
daily journal of the studies of the Princess Victoria, of her progi'ess 
and mode of conduct, was kept by the Baroness Lehzen, and submitted 
once a month to the inspection of Prince Leopold, whose affectionate 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. ST 

solicitude for his niece's welfare was not without its beneficial results. 

Lord Albermarle, Leigh Hunt, and others, have testified in almost 
identical terms to the many charms of the Queen as a young girl, and 
the natural artlessness and attractiveness of her disposition. From an 
account written by one of those who saw her in childhood I must quote 
the following paragraph; "Passing accidentally through Kensington 
Gardens a few days since, I observed at some distance a party consist- 
ing of several ladies, a young child, and two men-servants, having in 
charge a donkey gaily caparisoned with blue ribbons, and accoutered 
for the use of the infant. The appearance of the party, and the general 
attention they attracted, led me to suspect they might be the royal 
inhabitants of the Palace. I soon learned that my conjectures were 
well founded, and that her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent was 
in maternal attendance, as is her daily custom, upon her august and 
interesting daughter in the enjoyment of her healthful exercise. On 
approaching the royal party, the infant Princess, observing my respect- 
ful recognition, nodded, and wished me a 'good morning' with much 
liveliness, as she skipped along between her mother and her sister, the 
Princess Feodore, holding a hand of each. Having passed on some 
paces, I stood a moment to observe the actions of the child, and was 
pleased to see that the notice with which she honored me was extended 
in a greater or less degree to almost every person she met. Her Royal 
Highness is remarkably beautiful, and her gay and animated counte- 
nance bespgaks perfect health and good temper. Her complexion is 
excessively fair, her eyes large and expressive, and her cheeks bloom- 
ing. She bears a very striking resemblance to her late royal father, and 
indeed to every member of our reigning family." 

Charles Knight, in his Passages of a Working Life, furnishes a 
glimpse of the Princess as he saw her in 1827. "I delighted to walk in 
Kensington Gardens," he observes. "As I passed along the broad 
central w^alk I saw a group on the lawn before the Palace, which to my 
mind was a vision of exquisite loveliness. The Duchess of Kent and her 
daughter were breakfasting in the open air — a single page attending 
upon them at a respectful distance; the matron looked on with eyes 
of love, whilst the fair, soft English face was bright with smiles. 
What a beautiful characteristic it seemed to me of the training of 
this royal girl, that she should not have been taught to shrink from 
the public eye; that she should not have been burdened with a pre- 



58 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY, 

mature conception of her probable high destiny; that she should 
enjoy the freedom and simplicity of a child's nature; that she should 
not be restrained when she starts up from the breakfast table and 
runs to gather a flower in the adjoining parterre; that her merry laugh 
should be as fearless as the notes of the thrush in the groves around 
her. I passed on, and blessed her; and I thank God that I have lived 
to see the golden fruits of such training." 

Several stories are told of the quick repartee which "Uncle King" 
received from his amusing little niece of Kent. During one of her visits 
to Windsor, the King said, "Now, Victoria, the band is waiting to play; 
Avhat tune would you like to hear best?" 

" 'God Save the King,' if you please, uncle," she promptly replied. 

And again, when asked what part of her visit had been the greatest 
treat, she discreetly said, "Oh, the ride in the carriage with you, uncle." 
On this occasion the King had driven her himself, which was doubtless 
a great event. We get a further glimpse into these little trips to 
Windsor in one of Grandmamma Coburg's charming letters. Writing 
in 1826 to the Duchess of Kent, she saj'-s: "I see by the English news- 
papers that 'His Majesty George IV. and H. E. H. the Duchess of Kent 
went on Virginia Water.' The little monkey [Princess Victoria] must 
have pleased and amused him. She is such a pretty, clever child." 

A few years later "Uncle King" gave a child's ball in honor of the 
visit of Donna Maria, the little Queen of Portugal, to this country. This 
was the first Court ceremonial at which the Princess Victoria was 
present. A lady of the Court, however, gave great offense to the King 
by saying how "pretty it would be to see the two little Queens dancing 
together," His Majesty had no mind as yet to hear his niece of Kent 
dubbed a queen. By all accounts the juvenile ball was a pretty and 
brilliant affair. The children of the highest nobility were there, and 
paid mimic court to the little Queen of Portugal, who sat by the side of 
the King, dressed in a red velvet frock and literally blazing with jewels 
from head to foot. This was the first occasion upon which that spicy 
Court chronicler, Mr. Greville, saw the Princess Victoria; but he 
appears to have been carried off his head by the dark-eyed Donna of 
Portugal's brilliant appearance. "Our little Princess," he writes, "is a 
short, plain-looking child, and not near so good-looking as the Portu- 
guese." Another chronicler of the scene, however, remarks that little 
Victoria was dazzled by so much magnificence; but, "the elegant sim- 



JN THE DAYS OF INFANCY, 69 

plicity of the attire and manners of the British heiress formed a strong 
contrast to the glare and glitter around the precocious queen. These 
royal young ladies danced in the same quadrille, and though the per- 
formance of Donna Maria was greatly admired, all persons of refined 
taste gave the preference to the modest graces of the English-bred 
Princess." The Princess Victoria had for partners at her first ball 
Lord Fitzalan, heir to the Dukedom of Norfolk, Prince William of Saxe- 
Weimar, the young Prince Esterhazy, and the sons of Lords De-la- Warr 
and Jersey. 

Visits to Uncle King were very rare events, as the Duchess of Kent 
did not wish her little daughter to see much of Court life; but she took 
her frequently to see her Uncle Leopold at Claremont, and these visits 
were the most delightful holidays of all. Writing in after years from 
Claremont to her uncle, then King of the Belgians, the Queen says: 
"This place brings back recollections of the happiest days of my other- 
wise dull childhood — days in which I experienced such kindness from 
you, dearest uncle. Victoria [the Princess Koyal] plays with my old 
bricks, and I see her running and jumping in the flower garden, as old 
(though I still feel little) Victoria of former days used to do." 

* In the autumn of 1824, Grandmamma of Coburg was a visitor at 
Claremont, along with the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria; 
and it has often been said that she brought her little grandson Prince 
Albert of Coburg with her, but that fact is not clearly established. 

One finds a charming account of the royal party in the letters of 
Miss Jane Porter, author of "The Scottish Chiefs." She dwelt with her 
mother and sister in a cottage close to the grounds of Claremont, and 
had frequent opportunities for seeing the Princess, who, she was 
delighted to find, resembled her lamented aunt, the Princess Charlotte. 
Miss Porter describes her as "a beautiful child, with a cherubic form of 
features, clustered round by glossy fair ringlets. Her complexion was 
remarkably transparent, with a soft and often heightening tinge of the 
sweet blush-rose upon her cheeks, that imparted a peculiar brilliancy 
to her clear blue eyes. Whenever she met any strangers in her usual 
paths, she always seemed, by the quickness of her glance, to inquire 
who and what they were." 

At home the Princess was not allowed to attend public worship at 
Kensington Church for fear of attracting too much attention, service 
being conducted in the Palace by the Duchess herself during her 



60 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY, 

daughter's earliest years, and afterwards by the Eev. George Davys, 
her tutor. But while at Claremont she was taken to the little village 
church at Esher. Fortunate Miss Porter had a seat facing the Clare- 
mont pew, and it is to be feared that her devotions were somewhat dis- 
turbed by the attention which she gave to the movements of the royal 
visitors, although she is able, at least on one occasion, to give a very 
good reason for her attentive scrutiny. "I should not voluntarily have 
so employed myself in church," she piously writes, "but I had seen a 
wasp skimming backwards and forwards over the head and before the 
unveiled summer bonnet of the little Princess; and I could not forbear 
watching the dangerous insect, fearing it might sting her face. She, 
totally unobserving it, had meanwhile fixed her eyes on the clergy- 
man, who had taken his seat in the pulpit to preach the sermon, and she 
never withdrew them thence for a moment during his whole discourse." 
Next day, from a lady personally intimate at Claremont, Miss Porter 
learned the reason why the Princess riveted her eyes upon the clergy- 
man, who, according to her account, was not an attractive person, so 
that she saw not the "dangerous insect"^ — she was required to give her 
mother not only the text, but the leading heads of the discourse. Poor 
little Princess! those were the days of long and formal sermons. 

It was in the autumn succeeding this visit to Claremont that the 
Princess paid the first of her many visits to Ramsgate. Three years 
before she had taken her first sight of the sea at Brighton. During her 
seaside visits she was allowed to play with other children on the sands, 
have donkey rides ad libitum, and to run out to meet the on-coming 
waves. If they chanced to ripple over her little feet, she was in a high 
state of glee. Then at Ramsgate she used frequently to go to a delight- 
ful old dairy-woman's cottage to have a glass of milk before breakfast. 
We find a graphic sketch of the Princess at this time by a writer in 
Fraser's Magazine, who in somewhat florid style thus relates his obser- 
vations : "When first I saw the pale and pretty daughter of the Duke 
of Kent, she was fatherless. Her fair, light form was sporting in all 
the redolence of youth and health on the noble sands of old Ramsgate. 
She wore a plain straw bonnet with a white ribbon round it, and as 
pretty a pair of shoes on as pretty a pair of feet as I ever remember to 
have seen from China to Kamschatka. I defy you all to find me a pret- 
tier pair of feet than those of the belle Victoria, when she played with 
the pebbles and the tides on Ramsgate sands." The Princess on this 




Alexandra— QuEETST or Great Britain and Ireland 
AND Empress oe India 

Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, is the mother of six children, four of whom are living. 
The surviving son is the present Duke of York. Queen Alexandra is the eldest daughter of 
King Christian of Denmark. Her brothers and sisters are Prince Frederick, heir-apparent to 
the Danish throne. King George of Greece, Princess Dagmar, who married the Emperor Alexan- 
der III of Russia, Princess Thyra, who married the Duke of Cumberland, and Prince Waldemar. 





Her Majesty the Queest— 1839 

(From a Painting by Edwin Landseer. presented to the Prince Consort by the Queen before tb 
rriage.) 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 63 

occasion was accompamed by her mother and by William Wilberforce; 
the latter is said to have beguiled the adventurous Victoria from sport- 
ing too freely with the waves by telling her stories of the slave children 
whom he was laboring to emancipate. As he did so, he stood on the 
shore, an impressive figure, clasping in his own the tiny hands of the 
five-year-old Princess, into whose heart his words were sinking deep 
and were destined to bear glorious fruit in after years. When they 
turned homeward from the shore down the High Street, the Princess 
espied an old Irishwoman sitting pale and dejected by the wayside, and 
literally "teased" a silver coin from her mother to give to this lonely 
wayfarer. 

The Duchess and her daughter frequently returned to visit Rams- 
gate, staying principally at Townley House, close to the picturesque 
grounds of East Cliff, the residence of Mr. Moses Monteflore, who cour- 
teously provided them with a special key to his private gate in order 
that they might use his grounds at their pleasure. On the occasion of 
the Queen's visit to the City of London soon after her accession, Mr. 
Montefiore received her in his capacity of Sheriff, and one can imagine 
that Her Majesty was not unmindful of those pleasant days at Rams- 
gate when she bade him rise up Sir Moses Montefiore. He was the first 
Jew to receive the honor of knighthood. 

But a truce to the little Princess' holiday jaunts; we must continue 
the thread of her life at Kensington. "An old lady friend has often 
described to me," writes Mrs. Tooley, "how she used to watch the 
Princess taking her walks and rides in Kensington Gardens. She never 
wore smart things, but was plainly and prettily dressed in a straw hat 
with a ribbon round it — sometimes the hat was lined with blue^ — and 
her summer dresses were of simple white cotton, relieved by a colored 
silk fichu. She was often to be encountered in the Gardens skipping 
along between her mother and the Princess Feodore, each of whom 
held one of her hands. The little one would bow and smile at the 
passers-by, and say lady' and 'good morning' in a pretty, silvery voice, 
sometimes holding out her dimpled little hand to be kissed. The wise 
mother taught her to approach strangers fearlessly, and to return their 
salutations graciously. Everybody in the neighborhood grew to love 
the winsome little Princess. But the prettiest sight of all was to see 
her mounted on her white donkey, gaily caparisoned with blue ribbons, 
an old soldier, a former retainer of her father's, leading her bridle rein, 



64 IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

while some of the ladies of the household walked by her side. She was 
then at the height of enjoyment, and, once mounted, 'not all the king's 
horses nor all the king's men' could persuade her to come down again. 
Her mother had made a little rule that she should ride and walk alter- 
nately; but there were not a few scenes, and we fear some screams, in 
Kensington Gardens when nurse or governess tried to force the little 
lady to dismount, for she was as wilful as she was engaging. It was 
only when the old soldier, who was a special favorite, held out his arms 
for her that she was persuaded to quit her dear donkey's back." 

Miss Kortright, an old inhabitant of Kensington, tells of some 
pretty little incidents relating to this period of the Queen's life. The 
Princess was known to go with her mother and her step-sister, Feodore, 
to a milliner's shop in Kensington, buy a new hat, stay while it was 
trimmed, and carry it home in her hand quite proudly — but surely it 
was the old one she carried in her hand ! Meeting the Princess in her 
pony-chaise one day, an "unknown little girl" asked to be allowed to 
kiss her. The Princess Feodore stopped the tiny carriage and indulged 
the child's wish. The "unknown little girl" who secured a kiss from 
her future Queen was Miss Kortright's elder sister. 

The Princess had a ready wit. On one occasion her teacher had 
been reading in her classical history the story of Cornelia, the mother 
of the Gracchi — how she had proudly presented her sons to the first of 
Roman ladies with the words, "These are my jewels." "She should 
have said my Cornelians," immediately remarked the Princess. Of 
course, "the divinity that doth hedge a king" extends in popular eyes 
in some degree to a Princess, and people are apt only to look on the 
roseate side. But none knows better than the Queen herself that 
human nature is a complex thing, and that, however a child may desire 
perfection, there is a good deal of the old leaven of imperfection in 
every one. So the Princess Victoria, noble in character as she was, 
exhibited some of those imperfections which no child is without, unless 
it be those precocious creatures in whom supernatural goodness is 
developed from the first at the expense of a healthy organization. The 
Princess was impulsive, sometimes not a little wilful and imperious; 
but the affections being strong and the head well trained, these mat- 
tGrs always righted themselves, and the young offender was herself 
quick to acknowledge the wrong. She had an ingrained sense of justice 
which Gowld always redress the balance. 



IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 65 

Tlie first grief which the Princess was able to appreciate to the full 
arose from the death of the Duke of York. The Princess was at this 
time in her eighth year, and as she had ever experienced great kindness 
and aJBfection at the hands of her uncle, his loss affected her keenly. 
The Duke of York and the Duchess of Clarence were the two members 
of the royal family towards whom her youthful heart was most strongly 
drawn out. At the time of the Duke's death she was unconscious that 
his demise brought her one step nearer the throne. The marriage of 
her sister, the Princess Feodore, to Prince Hohenlohe-Langenbourg, 
was another wrench to the child, and one which seriously narrowed her 
restricted home circle. 

Sketching was a favorite occupation with the Princess, her love of 
form and of the beauties of nature having been observable at a very 
early age. When taking walks about Esher with her Uncle Leopold, 
she often pointed out beautiful bits of landscape, and it was at Clare- 
mont that she first began sketching from nature. She was fond, too, 
of looking at pictures and of imagining what the people in them might 
be saying to each other, a dramatic element in her character which 
found further expression in the mock ceremonies which she enacted 
with her retinue of dolls. Upon a long board full of pegs, into which 
the dolls' feet fitted, she rehearsed court receptions, presentations, and 
held mimic drawing-rooms and levees. Her dolls numbered one hun- 
dred and thirty-two; a large number of them were dressed entirely by 
herself in artistic costumes to represent historic characters or people 
she knew. A list of them, with their names and history, was kept in a 
copybook. She was passionately fond of animals and of seeing natural 
history collections; her first visit to the British Museum was an un- 
bounded joy, and she begged to be taken there often. Botany, too, 
delighted her, and she began the study, under the tuition of her Uncle 
Leopold, among the bowery gToves of Olaremont. Lord Albemarle 
remembers seeing her watering her flowers at Kensington Palace, and 
tells that it was amusing to see how impartially she divided the con- 
tents of her watering-pot between the flowers and her own little feet. 

And so the childhood of the Queen passed under the watchful eye 
of that wisest of mothers, and year by year saw her fine natural abili- 
ties developing, and her character ripening into thoughtful maiden- 
hood. In closing this period of the Queen's life, we can but echo the 
words of Grandmamma of Coburg, who, writing to the Duchess of 



GQ IN THE DAYS OF INFANCY. 

Keut upon the Princess' eleventh birthday, says: "My blessings and 
good wishes for the day which gave you the sweet blossom of May! 
May God preserve and protect the valuable life of that lovely flower 
from all the dangers that will beset her mind and heart! The rays of 
the sun are scorching at the height to which she may one day attain. 
It is only by the blessing of God that all the fine qualities He has put 
into that young soul can be kept pure and untarnished." 



CHAPTER II. 
THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

Princess Tictoria Learns That She is Heiress to the Throne— Her First Reception—She 
Attends the Theatre— Not Present at the Coronation of William IV.— Her Amusements— 
Journeys with Her Mother— Enthusiastically Eeceiyed by the People— A Narrow EscajKs 
From Death— Her Confirmation — The Duke of Coburg and His Sons, Ernest and Albert, 
Visit Kensington Palace— The Ill-Feeliug Between the King and the Princess' Mother- 
She Attains Her Majority— The Nation Celebrates the Event— Death of King William IV. 

rHE day on which the Princess Victoria first learned that she 
would in all probability succeed to the throne of Great 
Britain may be regarded as one of the important epochs of 
her life. She was but twelve years of age at the time of her 
enlightenment on this momentous matter, yet she fully realized the 
grandeur of the position to which she was moving, and because she 
felt the difficulty of ruling wisely she was less elated by the splendor 
than she was impressed by the responsibility of the regal greatness 
that would in the course of time be hers. 

Two years prior to the time when she received this definite informa- 
tion. Sir Walter Scott, after dining with the Princess' mother, the 
Duchess of Kent, wrote in his diary, "Little Victoria is educated with 
much care, and watched so closely that no busy maid has a moment 
to whisper, *You are heir of England.'" Historians differ regarding 
the manner in which the young Princess first learned the important 
fact, and there are several stories on this point. It was current gossip 
of the time that Prince George of Cumberland, a cousin of the Princess, 
who was very fond of teasing her, twitted her one day with the un- 
pleasant prospect of having to be a Queen, enlarging on the discom- 
forts of the position, and throwing out dark hints regarding the un- 
timely end of Mary, Queen of Scots. If the Princess failed in her 
lessons, or merited reproof for any cause. Prince George took occasion 
to say, "A pretty sort of Queen you will make." All such references 
were received by the Princess with passionate tears. 

Another version is given by Caroline Fox. Writing in her journal, 
she details a gossipy visit from her friend Mrs, Corgie, the "rightful 

©7 



68 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

Lady George Murray," who told her that the Princess Victoria was 
first informed of the high position which awaited her by her mother. 
The Duchess of Kent desired that her daughter should read aloud that 
portion of English history which related to the death of the Princess 
Charlotte. In reading, the Princess made a dead halt, and asked if it 
were possible that she should ever be Queen. Her mother replied: 
"As this is a yqvj possible circumstance, I am anxious to bring you up 
as a good woman, when you will be a good Queen also." 

It appears also that the Princess' governess, the Baroness Lehzen, 
and her tutor, the Rev. George Davys, both claim to have informed 
their pupil of her place in the succession to the throne. In a letter 
written in her eighty-fourth year by the Baroness to her former pupil, 
she says: "I ask your Majesty's leave to cite some remarkable words 
of your Majesty when only twelve years old, while the Regency Bill 
was in progress. I then said to the Duchess of Kent that now for the 
first time your Majesty ought to know your place in the succession. 
Her Royal Highness agreed with me, and I put the genealogical table 
into the historical book." The Baroness continues her story to the 
effect that when the Princess opened the book and noticed the addi- 
tional paper, she said, "I never saw that before." 

"It was not thought necessary you should, Princess," the governess 
replied. 

"I see," continued the Princess, "I am nearer the throne than I 
thought." 

"So it is, madam," replied the Baroness. 

After some moments, the Princess answered: "Now, many a child 
would boast, but they don't know the diflaculty. There is much splen- 
dor, but there is more responsibility;" and laying her hand in that of 
her governess, she said, "I will be good. I understand now why you 
urged me so much to learn even Latin." 

The Baroness then explained to the Princess that her aunt, Queen 
Adelaide, might yet have children, in which case she would not suc- 
ceed to the throne. 

"And if it were so," replied the Princess, "I should never feel dis- 
appointed, for I know by the love Aunt Adelaide bears me how fond 
she is of children." 

Yet another account of how the momentous tidings were conveyed 
to the Princess Victoria is as follows: 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. §9 

"The story of the Princess discoyering that she would be Queen," 
writes Canon Davys, "has not generally been correctly told. My father 
had set her to make a chart of the kings and queens. She got as far as 
'Uncle William.' Next day my father said to the Princess, 'But you 
have not put down the next heir to the throne.' She rather hesitated, 
and said, 'I hardly like to put down myself.' My father mentioned the 
matter to the Duchess of Kent, who said she was so glad that the truth 
had come upon her daughter in this way, as it was time she became 
aware what responsibility was awaiting her." 

The three accounts agree in showing that the Princess' mother, 
together with her governess and her tutor, all felt, after the accession 
of William IV., that the time had arrived for the Princess to be in- 
formed of her position, and that each of them made a lesson in history 
the means by which to tell her. As to whether Prince George of Cum- 
berland had previously let the proverbial "cat out of the bag" remains 
a moot point. 

The Princess Victoria was now regarded by the people as the 
heiress-apparent; but the King himself never ceased hoping that a 
child of his own might yet be born to succeed- and at times he dis- 
played jealousy of his niece of Kent and ill-will towards the mother 
who had borne her. In beautiful contrast was the attitude of the good 
Queen Adelaide. When her second child died, soon after the birth of 
the Princess Victoria, she wrote to the Duchess of Kent, "My children 
are dead, but yours lives, and she is mine too." 

A Court lady recalls a pleasing little incident which she witnessed 
when Queen Adelaide was still Duchess of Clarence. The lady was sit- 
ting with Her Royal Highness, when the Duchess of Kent and the 
Princess Victoria were announced, whereupon she rose to withdraw. 

"Do not go yet," said the Duchess of Clarence. "I want you to see 
little Victoria; she is such a sweet child." 

After drawing the Princess towards her with affectionate greeting, 
the Duchess of Clarence produced a child's tea-service of the prettiest 
china imaginable, which, in her sweet, kind way, she had provided as a 
surprise for her little niece. Trivial as the incident is, nothing could 
better illustrate the love of the childless Queen for the heiress to the 
throne. 

The Princess Victoria attended her first drawing-room on the 24th 
of February, 1831, on the occasion of Queen Adelaide's birthday. It 



I'D THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

was a reception of unusual splendor; nothing had been seen like it 
since the drawing-room at which the Princess Charlotte had been pre- 
sented on the occasion of her marriage. There were three things to 
make it of special import : it was the first drawing-room held after the 
accession of William IV., it was Queen Adelaide's birthday, and the 
first formal appearance at Court of the heiress of Great Britain. 

The Princess set out from Kensington Palace with her mother, at- 
tended by a suite of ladies and gentlemen in state carriages, and es- 
corted by a detachment of Life Guards. Some of the people, as they 
watched her, cheered, and others wept, for there was something both 
joyous and pathetic in the sight of this young girl upon whose head 
the weight of a crown might fall all too soon. At the drawing-room 
she was the centre of observation. She stood on Queen Adelaide's left 
hand, dressed in a frock of English blonde draped over white satin. 
Her fair hair was arranged Madonna-like, according to the fashion of 
the times, and the braids were fastened at the back of her head with a 
diamond clasp. Around her throat she wore a single row of lovely 
pearls. It was no small ordeal for a young girl of twelve, reared in the 
strictest seclusion, to pass through ; but she bore herself with modest 
dignity, and took evident delight in watching the presentations. The 
gay scene was as novel to her as to the simplest girl in the land. 

Two months later another opportunity was taken by Queen 
Adelaide of giving prominence to the Princess. The Queen and the 
royal ladies were standing on the balcony watching the pageant which 
attended William IV. on the prorogation of his first Parliament. As 
the people cheered. Queen Adelaide took the young Princess Victoria 
by the hand, and, leading her to the front of the balcony, presented 
her to the assembled crowds. It would be diflflcult to decide whether 
the deafening shouts which rent the air were given more in honor of 
the future Queen or in recognition of the good Queen Adelaide's atti- 
tude towards the young girl. In the same year the Princess made her 
first appearance- at the theatre, attending a children's entertainment 
at Covent Garden. 

The Princess Victoria having been brought so far into prominence, 
there was much comment regarding her absence from the coronation 
of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide in Westminster Abbey, Sep- 
tember, 1831. Many reasons were assigned for this omission. Some 
said that the King, jealous of the attention which the Princess had 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 71 

excited, during the last few months, would not assign her the place in 
the procession due to her rank as the heiress-presumptive. On the 
other hand, it was affirmed that the Duchess of Kent pleaded the deli- 
cate state of her young daughter's health as an excuse for keeping her 
awaj from the ceremonial. It is a matter of history that there was 
always friction between the Duchess of Kent and the King regarding 
the comparative seclusion in which the Princess was kept. The Duch- 
ess was determined to preserve the girlish innocence and purity of her 
daughter by withholding her as much as possible from the Court. The 
King was well known for a coarse wit. When he was in a good humor 
"he swore like an admiral," and when he was in bad humor "he swore 
like our armies in Flanders." His facetious extravagances at the din- 
ner table were the gossip of the time. Still, his sailor-like bluntness 
and cheery jocosity made him, in spite of his easy morals, a favorite 
with the populace, and there were many who blamed the Duchess of 
Kent for persistently opposing him. We find a morning journal re- 
proving her in plain terms for her "impertinence" in keeping her 
daughter away from the coronation. 

The confidence and esteem with which the Duchess of Kent was 
regarded, however, by the nation was amply testified by the action of 
Parliament in appointing her to be Regent in the event of the Princess 
Victoria succeeding to the throne before she came of age. The Regency 
Bill was passed immediately after the accession of William IV., and 
during its discussion Cabinet ministers vied with each other in prais- 
ing the admirable training given by the Duchess of Kent to her 
daughter. An extract from the speech of Lord Lyndhurst will illus- 
trate the general feeling: "The first question which your lordships 
will naturally ask is, whom do we propose as the guardian of Her 
Royal Highness under the circumstances inferred? I am sure, how- 
ever, that the answer will at once suggest itself to every mind. It 
would be quite impossible that we should recommend any other indi- 
vidual for that high office than the illustrious Princess, the mother of 
Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria. The manner in which Her 
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent has hitherto discharged her duty 
in the education of her illustrious offspring — and I speak upon the sub- 
ject not from vague report, but from accurate information — gives us 
the best ground to hope most favorably of Her Royal Highness' future 



r£ THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

conduct. Looking at the past, it is eAddent that we cannot find a better 
guardian for the time to come." 

After the passing of the Regency Bill, we find another of those 
charming letters from Grandmamma of Coburg to her daughter. "It 
is only a just return," she writes to the Duchess of Kent, "for your 
constant devotion and care to your child. May God bless and protect 
our little darling. If I could but once see her again! The print you 
sent me of her is not like the dear picture I have. The quantity of curls 
hide the well-shaped head, and make it look too large for the lovely 
little figure." 

The tender family circle of the Princess seemed to be narrowing 
sadly at this period of her early girlhood. Her favorite paternal uncle, 
the Duke of York, had died; her half-sister, the Princess Feodore, had 
married the Prince of Hohenlohe and had left E'ngland; and in 1831 
her beloved Grandmamma of Coburg died. About the same time her 
Uncle Leopold succeeded to the throne of Belgium. This was perhaps 
the greatest grief of all, bringing to an end as it did her delightful 
visits to Claremont. The Queen has herself told us that she "adored" 
her Uncle Leopold, and his departure from the country filled her with 
despair. From the hour of her father's death he had been her watch- 
ful guardian, advising her mother in all points regarding her training, 
and even providing additional income. The Princess was a warm- 
hearted girl, passionate in her attachments, as she has remained 
throughout her life, and one can understand that the break up of so 
many family ties oppressed her spirits at this time. She had few of th«^ 
outlets of ordinary girls for throwing dull care aside, the circumstance 
of her high estate keeping her life monotonous and lonely. Her 
amusements were all of a quiet kind — chiefly walking in Kensington 
Gardens, driving her ponies, and playing with her favorite dog Dash, 
a black-and-tan spaniel. In order to vary this rather too quiet exist- 
ence, the Duchess of Kent took her daughter on a series of visits to 
places of interest in her native land. In these days of varied travel, 
one maiwels to find that Her Majesty never set foot off English soil, if 
we except Wales, until she had been several years upon the throne, 
and was both wife and mother. 

The royal visitors could not enjoy Brighton by reason of the crowds 
which dogged their footsteps; but at Broadstairs they spent some 
pleasant times, residing at Pier^wnt House; and Ramsgate was always 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 73 

a favorite watering-place. In 1830 the Princess spent a long holiday 
at Malvern, where she led a free outdoor life, and displayed agility in 
climbing walls and trees. Unfortunately she did not descend with 
equal ease, and on one occasion had to be rescued from the bough of 
an apple tree by the gardener. At Tunbridge Wells the old people 
recall her fearless donkey-riding, and her fondness for coming to drink 
the water from the widow who kept the well. There comes a story, 
too, that her mother would not allow her to outrun her exchequer by 
the purchase of a half-crown box until she had the money to pay for it, 
her rather reckless purchase of presents for her friends having reduced 
the Princess to a temporary state of insolvency. When her next al- 
lowance of pocket-money became due, she set forth on her donkey at 
seven o'clock in the morning to claim the box, which the shopkeeper 
had retained for her. 

She was also taken on visits to country seats; and the story is told 
that during a visit to Wentworth House the Princess was a little too 
adventurous in racing about the glades and unfrequented parts of the 
grounds, heedless of the warning which the gardener had given her 
that they were "slape." "What is 'slape'?" asked the Princess, receiv- 
ing when she had scarcely uttered the words a practical demonstra- 
tion as her feet slid from under her on the slippery path. "That is 
slape, miss," replied the old gardener, with a sense of humor, as he 
assisted her to her feet. 

A note from the diary of Thomas Moore gives a peep behind the 
scenes when the royal travelers were expected at Watson Taylor's 
place, near Devizes. "Have been invited," he writes, "to meet the 
Duchess of Kent and young Victoria . . . rather amused with 
being behind the scenes to see the fuss of preparation for a royal re- 
ception." He then proceeds to describe a musical evening, the Duchess 
and the Princess singing duets together. "No attempts at bravura and 
graces," is his criticism, "but all simplicity and expression. Her Royal 
Highness evidently is very fond of music, and would have gone on 
singing much longer if there had not been rather premature prepara- 
tions for bed." To have pleased the ear of so fastidious a judge as 
Thomas Moore proves that the Princess had a sweet and well-trained 
voice. 

Even during these early jaunts the Princess took part in public 
functions. We find her opening the Victoria Park at Bath, and dis- 



74 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS, 

tributing colors to a regiment of foot at Plymouth, and later on, when 
she visited V/ales^ she gave the prizes to the successful competitors at 
the Eisteddfod. 

In 1832 the Princess was taken on a further tour, which, being at- 
tended with some ceremonious arrangement, caused the old King to 
speak with amused cynicism of his niece's jaunts as "royal progresses." 
The Duchess of Kent and the Princess, attended by a modest retinue, 
set forth in carriages from Kensington Palace, traveling by way of 
Shrewsbury and Coventry into Wales. They crossed the Menai Strait, 
enjoying the lovely scenery at their leisure, and passing over the water 
to Anglesey made a prolonged stay in the island, returning home by 
way of the Midland counties. An opportunity was taken in passing- 
through the manufacturing towns to show the Princess the interiors 
of some of the factories. It is amusing to find, in records of the period, 
that the interest which she took in what was shown her is gravely 
interpreted as evidence of her desire to promote British industries. 
The fact that she was delighted with a working model illustrating 
cotton-spinning is commented upon as though she had been a second 
Arkwright come to judgment, instead of a bright, clever girl full of 
curiosity. During this tour the Duchess of Kent and her daughter 
paid visits to several historic country seats, among them Eaton Hall, 
Chatsworth, Alton Towers, and Powis Castle. Wherever they ap- 
peared the people came out in great crowds to see them, testifying their 
loyalty to the young heiress of Britain. The King indeed was not far 
wrong when he testily spoke of these visits as "royal progresses," for, 
however desirous the Duchess of Kent might have been to make the 
Princess' journeys private, the people insisted upon openly displaying 
their loyalty. 

In 1833 the Duchess and her daughter resided for some months at 
Norris Castle in the Isle of Wight, where the Princess was frequently 
seen enjoying country rambles, or listening to the stories of the sailors 
and the coastguardsmen as she lingered about the shore. A pretty 
incident is told by an American writer who was visiting the island. 
While in Arreton churchyard, near Brading, he noticed a lady and a 
little girl seated near the grave of the "Dairyman's Daughter." The 
lady was reading aloud the story of the humble heroine, and as the 
visitor regarded the pair he could see that the large blue eyes of the 
young girl were suffused with tears. He subsequently learned that 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 75 

the ladies were the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria. It was 
doubtless during this visit of her girlhood that the Queen formed an 
affection for the Isle of Wight, which induced her, in later years, to 
select Osborne as a marine residence. 

After a period of rest at Norris Castle, the Duchess of Kent and her 
daughter went on board their yacht, the Emerald, for a cruise in the 
Channel, visiting Southampton, Plymouth and Torquay. At each place 
they were welcomed by loyal addresses from the local authorities. The 
enthusiasm of the people was great ; and if the old King had been an- 
noyed at the homage paid to the mother and daughter during their 
tour by land, he was more chagrined than ever by the popular demon- 
strations of loyalty which attended their progress by water. He sent 
forth a royal decree that an end should be put to the continual "pop- 
pings" of the ships in the Channel in the way of salutes to the Duchess 
of Kent's yacht. The naval authorities were of opinion that the royal 
ladies were legally entitled to the salutes, whereupon the irate King 
endeavored to coerce the Duchess into waiving her right to them; but 
Her Eoyal Highness replied with becoming dignity: "If the King 
would offer me a slight in the face of his people, he can offer it so easily 
that he should not ask me to make the task easier." We fear there 
were young midshipmen irreverent enough to cry, "That's 'one' for the 
King," as they tossed their caps in the air and gave three cheers for the 
pretty, blue-eyed Princess, who was so merrily sailing the waters of 
the Channel under the care of her dignified mamma. The King finally 
ended the miserable contention by summoning the Privy Council to 
pass an order that henceforth no salute should be offered to any vessel 
flying the royal flag unless the King or the Queen were on board. The 
Court chronicler very fittingly describes this as a "council for a foolish 
business." 

It was during her cruise on the Emerald that the Princess met with 
her third narrow escape from death. She was sitting on deck when 
the yacht came into collision with another vessel so violently that the 
top-mast of the Emerald fell close to the Princess, and would have 
struck her but for the timely intervention of the pilot, Mr. Saunders, 
who snatched her up in his arms and carried her to a place of safety. 
The Queen never forgot her gallant preserver. She promoted him to 
the rank of Master when she ascended the throne, and cared for his 
widow and children after his death. 



76 THE LIFE OF 4 YOUNG PRINCESS. 

While the Princess was thus expanding her mind by travel, her 
general education was being pursued with strictest care. After the 
passing of the Regency Bill, and the public recognition of the Princess 
as heiress-presumptive, Parliament granted an extra £10,000 a year 
for her education. Her resident governess from childhood was 
Fraulein Lehzen, the daughter of a Hanoverian clergyman, who came 
first to Kensington Palace as the instructress of the Princess Feodore. 
She was made a Baroness by George IV. in recognition of her services 
to the Princess Victoria. The Queen has related that she regarded her 
with the warmest affection, although she stood much in awe of her. 
It has already been told how the Baroness acquainted her pupil with 
her nearness to the throne, and it would appear from the Baroness' 
letters of this period that she had been absent for a time from Kensing- 
ton Palace, and returned there from Paris in May, 1831. "My Prin- 
cess," she writes, " will be twelve years old to-morrow. She is not tall, 
but very pretty, has dark blue eyes, and a mouth which, though not 
tiny, is very good-tempered and pleasant, very fine teeth, a small but 
graceful figure, and a very small foot. She was dressed (to receive me) 
in white muslin with a coral necklet. Her whole bearing is so childish 
and engaging that one could not desire a more amiable child." Again 
she writes, shortly afterwards, that her Princess "flourishes in good- 
ness and beauty." 

It was now thought, however, desirable by the King that an Eng- 
lish governess should be appointed for the Princess in conjunction with 
the Baroness, and His Majesty selected for this important post Char- 
lotte Florentia (Clive), third Duchess of Northumberland and second 
daughter of the first Earl of Powis. It was the duty of the Duchess to 
instruct her pupil in matters of court etiquette and ceremonial, to train 
her in deportment, and to generally instruct her in the lighter graces. 
How apt was the pupil and how well the instructress succeeded in her 
delicate task was evinced by the almost startling ease and grace of 
manner which distinguished the girl Queen when she first ascended 
the throne. It was the universal testimony of all who were about the 
Queen that she was unsurpassed for graciousness and queenly bearing. 
Madame Bourdin instructed her in dancing, and the famous vocalist, 
Luigi Lablache, in singing. The Princess must surely have derived 
some entertainment from her singing-master, for he is reported to have 
been of such huge dimensions that one of bis boots would have made a 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 77 

small portmanteau, and a child might have been clad in one of his 
gloves. His portentous voice rang through the house like a great bell. 
His wife is said to have been aroused by a sound in the middle of the 
night which she took for the tocsin announcing a fire; but it was only 
Lablache producing in his sleep these bell-like sounds. 

Mr. Bernard Sale continued to instruct the Princess in music, and 
Mr. Richard Westall, R. A., in drawing and painting, in which she 
grew so proficient that, had she been "Miss" instead of the Princess 
Victoria, her tutor was of opinion that she would have been the first 
woman artist of the day. She once told her tutor that her pencil was a 
source of great delight to her, and that it was a study in which she 
would willingly spend more of her time than in any other. This talent 
has been inherited by all the Queen's daughters, but more especially 
by the Princess Louise, who is both artist and sculptor. Mr. Stewart, 
the writing and arithmetic master at Westminster school, instructed 
the Princess in those branches of education. 

From the well-known riding-master of the day, Mr. Fozard, the 
Princess w^as rapidly acquiring that grace in the saddle of which old 
people never tire of speaking, as they recall the days when they saw 
the girl Queen cantering down the Row. Her mother was her chief 
instructress in languages; Mr. Amos trained her in the difficult paths 
of constitutional history; while her chief preceptor in Greek, Latin, 
mathematics, theology, and literature continued to be her childhood's 
tutor, the Rev. George Davys, who had been made Dean of Chester, 
and was eventually to be Bishop of Peterborough. The Queen con- 
stantly spoke of him as "my kind, good master." The Duchess of Kent 
thought very highly of her daughter's tutor, who also served as 
domestic chaplain at Kensington Palace. An amusing story used to be 
told by him. "I like your sermons so much, Mr. Dean," said the Duch- 
ess one day, adding, as he bowed low, "because they are so short." His 
son, Canon Davys, gives a corrected version of the story. What the 
Duchess really said was that she liked the Dean's sermons because 
they were so good and so short. Bishop Davys' modesty or his sense of 
humor led him to omit the word "good" when he told the story. 

The Teverend tutor had a quiet humor, and enjoyed his pupil's 
clever repartees. The Dean had been preaching from his favorite text, 
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The Princess 
asked, *T)o not men reap anything but what they sow?" "Yes," replied 



78 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

the Dean, "if they allow some one to come and sow tares amongst their 
wheat." "Ah, I know who that some one is," said the Princess, "and I 
must keep him at arm's length." "At arm's length only, your Royal 
Highness?" rejoined the Dean. "Well, if I keep him there, he won't do 
much harm," was the quick reply. 

Bishop Davys was fond of telling another story as illustrating his 
young pupil's fearless truthfulness. The Princess had been giving 
trouble to her tutor over her lessons one morning, and the Baroness 
Lehzen had occasion to reprove her. When the Duchess of Kent came 
into the room, she inquired after - her daughter's behavior. The 
Baroness reported that the Princess had been naughty once. But the 
little culprit interrupted her with, "Twice, Lehzen; don't you remem- 
ber?" A less partial judge than Bishop Davys might have discovered 
a little sauciness in this very truthful statement. 

The Bishop was an exceedingly good elocutionist, and it is to his 
careful training that the Princess owed her clear and expressive 
intonation. She was very fond of good literature, and read principally 
in the English classics; Pope, Dryden, and Shakespeare being special 
favorites. The "Spectator" was the class book chiefly used by the 
Princess, and she also read the Latin authors under her tutor's direc- 
tion. To him also she looked for religious guidance in the solemn 
ceremony of confirmation, for which she was now preparing. There 
is every evidence to show that her feelings at this period were of a 
serious and devout kind. On the 30th of August, 1835, the Princess 
stood in her simple white confirmation dress in the Chapel Royal of 
St. James's. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London 
officiated at the ceremony, which was entirely private. There were 
present the King and Queen, the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of 
Saxe- Weimar, and several other members of the royal family. The 
address of the Archbishop was tender and solemn, and as he dwelt 
upon the obligations of her high estate, and impressively commended 
her to the guidance of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, the 
Princess turned to her mother, and laying her head upon her bosom, 
sobbed with emotion; a sight which brought tears to the eyes of most 
w^ho were present. 

During the past year the Princess had been in a delicate state of 
health; in fact, at the close of her fifteenth year her condition caused 
general concern. When, after her recovery, she was again seen driv 




Queen Victoria 

In the 60th year of her reign. 





Gbotjp Showing Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Consort, 
AND Four Children in Windsor Forest 

What a contrast is this picture to those of Victoria in later life. The little 
roiks have since died or grown up, with homes and children of their own, while 
the husband has long since passed away. The Miss at Victoria's right is the 
present Empress Dowager Frederick, of Germany, and the boy with the sash and 
ribbons is now Edward VII, of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 81 

lug with her mother in Hyde Park, the demonstration of joy shown 
by the people amounted to an ovation. 

We find her now emerging from the unformed period of girlhood 
into maidenly maturity and comeliness. She was seen more frequently 
at public places of amusement, and her fresh, fair face, peeping from 
under the huge bonnet of the period, was the delight of the London 
crowds. The extreme simplicity of attire which had distinguished her 
as a child was exchanged for rich and tasteful costumes. In the sum- 
mer of 1835, she accompanied Queen Adelaide to the Ascot races, and 
as she drove in the royal procession to the racecourse her pretty 
appearance was much talked of. She wore a large pink bonnet and a 
rose-colored satin frock, which matched the roses on her cheeks and 
contrasted nicely with her fair hair and blue eyes. Nathaniel Parker 
Willis, the American writer, then visiting London, recorded his impres- 
sions of the Princess as he saw her at Ascot. He came to the conclu- 
sion that she was quite "unnecessarily pretty and interesting" for a 
royal princess. "She will be sold, poor thing!" continued this youth of 
eighteen, "bartered away by those great dealers in royal hearts, whose 
calculations will not be of much consolation to her if she happens to 
have a taste of her own." Not so fast, Mr. Willis ; the Prince Charming 
will shortly appear to woo and win the fair Princess in the pink bonnet 
and the rose-colored dress, and she has "a taste of her own, and will 
show it." 

In the autumn of this year the Princess and her mother made 
another "royal progress," this time through East Anglia. Loyal 
demonstrations met them everywhere, and at King's Lynn the railway 
navvies took the horses from the carriage and drew it for some dis- 
tance. At Burghley great preparations were made for their reception. 
Mr. Greville records that all passed off well at the official dinner, 
except that a pail of ice was "landed" by a nervous waiter in the 
Duchess of Kent's lap, which made a great bustle. The Court chron- 
icler does not say so, but it is probable that the Princess laughed at 
the contretemps. A balL followed, which was opened by Lord Exeter 
and the Princess, who after dancing one dance went to bed; the 
Duchess never allowing any festivity to interfere with the simple 
routine of her daughter's life. Next day the royal ladies set off to 
Holkham, where they were the guests of the Lady Anne Coke. Sep- 
arate bedrooms had been prepared for the Princess and her mother; 



83 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

but the Duchess desired that a bed should be provided for her daughter 
in her own room, as they never slept apart. The Earl of Albemarle, 
who came to assist his sister. Lady Anne Coke, to entertain the royal 
visitors, records in his autobiography that the Princess "had most 
sweet and winning manners." 

In May, 1836, when the Princess was seventeen, there came to Ken- 
sington Palace some very interesting visitors — the Duke of Coburg 
and his two sons, Ernest and Albert. It was the first meeting of the 
Princess Victoria and her cousin Prince Albert. Fond relatives had 
destined the two for each other from their cradles; but the happiness 
of the Princess was too dear both to her mother and to her uncle. King 
Leopold, for any coercion to be used. It was arranged for the young 
people to meet without reference being made to any tenderer tie than 
that of cousinship. They passed several weeks in each other's society, 
playing duets on the piano, sketching, walking and riding in Kensing- 
ton Gardens, and attending some functions in town. Prince Albert, 
writing home regarding this visit, said: "Dear aunt is very kind to us, 
and does everything she can to please us, and our cousin also is very 
amiable." The Queen, in after years, gave the following description 
of her husband at this period: "The Prince was at this time very 
handsome, but very stout, which he entirely grew out of afterwards. 
He was most amiable, natural, unaffected, and merry — full of interest 
in everything." Baron Stockmar, that judicious person whose busi- 
ness it was to attentively scrutinize the Prince Albert, had already 
reported to "Uncle Leopold" that he was endowed with the personal 
characteristics "likely to please the sex," and that his mental qualities 
were also of a high order. 

At the end of a month the Duke of Coburg and his sons left Ken- 
sington and returned to Germany. The Princess parted from each 
of her cousins with equal affectionateness, but we find that Prince 
Albert is mentioned with special tenderness in a letter to her Uncle 
Leopold. Prince Albert, too, during his Continental travels, which 
followed the visit to Kensington, collected views of the places which 
he visited, and sent them in an album to the Princess, together with 
a rose gathered from the top of the Rigi. Now a rose is a rose the 
whole world over when passed between man and maid, even though it 
be a dried one from the top of the Rigi. 

Still we are told that there was nothing between Princess Victoria 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 83 

and her handsome cousin at this time. It was well known that the 
King did not favor such an alliance for his niece, and was disposed 
to give his help to one of the other suitors, for, like "Portia," the young 
Princess was bewildered by the number of Princes who came wooing. 
There were five suitors at this time besides Prince Albert. We find a 
letter of the period in which an application is made on behalf of Prince 
Adalbert of Prussia that he might be permitted "to place himself on 
the list of those who pretend to the hand of the Princess Victoria." 
The Duchess of Kent replied that such an application must be referred 
to the King, adding, "But if I know my duty to the King, I know also 
my maternal ones, and I am of opinion that the Princess should not 
marry till she is much older." So in the meantime Prince Albert was 
traveling and studying in order to be a fit consort, if fortune favored 
him, for the Queen of Great Britain; the other five suitors were kept 
at a distance, and the Princess continued to live her happy, quiet life 
at Kensington Palace. 

On Sunday, August 21, 1836, the Princess appeared at a grand 
dinner given by William IV. at Windsor Castle, in celebration of the 
seventy-first anniversary of his birth. On former occasions the Sailor 
King had given the Duchess of Kent a piece of his mind, — ^just that 
piece of it which a proper concern for his own dignity would have made 
him careful to keep for himself. But in his several outbreaks of ill- 
humor to the Duchess he does not seem to have ever exceeded the 
boorish extravagance of his last assault on her feelings. 

The private dinner in celebration of the monarch's seventy-first 
birthday was a banquet of a hundred covers. Comprising the most 
important members of the Koyal family, the company numbered other 
personages of high quality, belonging to the court of the neighbor- 
hood. It was at a Sunday and birthday dinner of this impressive kind 
that the King's health was drunk, at Queen Adelaide's desire, with fit 
enthusiasm. In the speech with which he acknowledged this display 
of loyal and affectionate regard, it pleased King William to utter these 
remarkable words: "I trust in God that my life may be spared nine 
months longer, after which period, in event of my death, no regency 
will take place. I shall then have the satisfaction of leaving the Royal 
authority to the personal exercise of that young lady (here the 
speaker indicated Princess Victoria, who sat on the opposite side of 
the table), the heiress-presumptive of the crown, not in the hands of 



84 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

a person now near me" (here tlie orator turned quarter-way about, and 
glanced angrily at the Duchess of Kent, who sat by his side), who is 
surrounded by evil advisers, and who is herself incompetent to act 
with propriety in the station in which she would be placed [if she 
became Regent]. I have no hesitation in saying that I have been 
insulted — grossly and continually insulted — by that person; but I am 
determined to endure no longer a course of misbehavior so disrespect- 
ful to me. Amongst many other things, I have particularly to com- 
plain of the manner in which that young lady has been kept away from 
my court; she has been kept away from my drawing rooms, at which 
she ought always to have been present; but I am fully resolved that 
this shall not happen again. I w^ould have her know that I am King, 
and I am determined to make my authority respected, and for the 
future I shall insist and command that the Princess do upon all occa- 
sions appear at my court, as it is her duty to do." 

Spoken in loud and angry tones, these words extinguished what- 
ever social enjoyment had previously animated the party. Readers 
may be left to imagine how Queen Adelaide glanced alternately at 
the King and the Duchess of Kent, throwing looks of entreaty towards 
the Sovereign, and looks of sympathy to the Duchess, who displayed 
her emotion neither by word nor gesture, though her changing color 
showed she was acutely sensible of the indignity put upon her. Whilst 
the orator took his course, heedless of the Queen's imploring counte- 
nance, the Princess Victoria was moved to tears. It may be suggested 
that this account of the affair, which is accepted as historically 
accurate, may be sensationally exaggerated. But the critical reader 
fails to discover any reason for this claim. It accords with what is 
known as the King's irritability, his "sailorlike" bluntness, and his 
antipathy to the Duchess. Moreover, the original reporter of the 
unseemly business was Lord Adolphus Fitz Clarence, who would have 
been more disposed to modify than to accentuate the particulars of 
his father's misdemeanor. 

On withdrawing from the outrageous scene, at which she had borne 
herself with characteristic dignity, the Duchess of Kent ordered her 
carriage, and would have returned at once to Kensington, had she not 
been induced by Queen Adelaide (ever a peace-maker) to remain at 
Windsor till Tuesday. A partial reconciliation was effected, which 
on His Majesty's part was a mere engagement to be fairly civil to the 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 85 

Duchess whilst she should remain under his roof, if she would forbear 
to "irritate him past all endurance." If the King kept his promise he 
barely kept it; for though he may have been formally polite to Her 
Royal Highness in her presence, he did not hesitate to speak offen- 
sively about her when she was absent. On the day following the out- 
break, he declared privately to his son. Lord Adolphus Fitz-Clarence, 
that he had been insulted by her in a measure that was past all endur- 
ance, and he would not endure it any longer; and at a later moment 
of the same day he spoke of her even more offensively, in the hearing 
of a numerous company. 

King William had his prayer, and survived the day (May 24, 1837), 
on which the Princess Victoria completed her eighteenth birthday and 
passed from her nonage. The event was celebrated in London and 
throughout the country with an enthusiasm that cannot have failed 
to gratify the Princess and her mother. From early morning, when 
the Princess was serenaded by a band of vocal and instrumental per- 
formers, till night, when the town was illuminated, Londoners sur- 
rendered themselves to gladness. From noon till evening the great 
world moved towards Kensington Palace, in order to pay due respect 
to the heiress-apparent. 

The birthday gifts were countless; and if they were as costly as 
successive writers have declared them. King William's sufficient offer- 
ing of a grand piano, appraised at £210, can scarcely have been the 
richest of all the rich gifts. At the west end of the town the event of 
the closing hours of the festival was the State ball at St. James' 
Palace. It was remarked by the guests at this brilliant gathering that 
the Princess took precedence of her mother, and in the intervals 
between the dances occupied the principal chair of state, sitting 
between the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Augusta. 

The festivities of the birthday were followed by the reception of 
successive bevies of municipal authorities, appointed to carry 
addresses of congratulation to Kensington Palace. With respect to the 
addresses to the Princess and the Duchess of Kent from the city of 
London, there had been some difference in the common council, where 
a minority of the councilors, more desirous of humoring the King's 
sensibility than thoughtful for their fellow-citizens, asked indiscreet 
questions and made foolish speeches about an alleged absence of suffi- 
cient precedents for the proposed address to the heiress-presumptive. 



86 THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 

The weak opposition, however, was overborne by the good sense of 
the municipal chamber; and the addresses to the Princess Victoria 
and the Duchess having been duly presented, similar addresses fol- 
lowed to Their Highnesses at Kensington from all parts of the country. 

Shortly before the eighteenth anniversary of the Princess Victoria's 
birthday, William IV. offered to arrange that she should have a 
separate allowance of £10,000 a year, which should be put at her own 
disposal, and wholly beyond her mother's control. The King made 
this offer in a letter, which he sent to his niece by the hands of Lord 
Conyngham, whom he commanded to deliver the epistle to the Princess 
herself, — an order which the Lord Chamberlain, on coming to Ken- 
sington Palace, could not execute without first declining to give the 
missive to the Duchess. More has been written than is known of this 
offer and its consequences. The Princess is said to have written to 
the King accepting the offer and thanking him for it, although it was 
accompanied with a stipulation that he should appoint the officers of 
her establishment. The Princess is also said to have declined the offer 
on account of this significant stipulation. It has been said that, while 
deeming £10,000 a year no excessive allowance for the heiress-pre- 
sumptive to the throne of Great Britain, the Duchess of Kent was of 
the opinion that £6,000 of the annuity should be put under the control 
of the heiress' mother, and only £4,000 be put at the absolute disposal 
of so youthful a Princess. It is certain that the Duchess and the King 
differed about the arrangement which he was ready to make for his 
niece's advantage and for his own authority over her. It is certain, 
also, that their difference of opinion on this delicate subject was fruit- 
ful of contention, that endured even to King William's death. 

At the present time the points in dispute are chiefly interesting 
because they brought about a conference which disposed the Princess 
Victoria to think highly of the statesman who soon became her 
favorite companion and most confidential friend. Though she took 
no part in the discussion of the several questions, the Princess was 
present at the conferences that took place between her mother and 
Lord Melbourne at Kensington about the proposed allowance. Listen- 
ing attentively to all that passed between the Duchess and the states- 
man, the Princess observed how strongly the Prime Minister spoke in 
the King^s behalf on the points in respect to which he thought His 
Majesty was in the right. It does not appear that the Princess con- 



THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PRINCESS. 87 

curred in Lord Melbourne's Tiews and arguments; but she thought the 
iwaj in which he took the part of the King, whom he knew to be failing, 
was an evidence "of his honesty and determination to do what he 
thought right." 

Appearing for the last time as Princess Victoria at court on May 
29, 1837, when she attended the drawing-room held in celebration of 
her majority, the heiress-presumptive, somewhat later in the season, 
made her last public appearance in the same character when she came 
to the ball that was held at the Opera house for the relief of the Spital* 
fields weavers. 

While the Princess Victoria was playing her bright and youthful 
part so as to be daily growing in the favor of the people. King William 
was sinking to his last hour. Instead of yielding to the treatment of 
the physicians, his illness was taking its course towards an event 
about which the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household were 
silent. It being a rule of court etiquette that death is not to be recog- 
nized until its work is almost accomplished, the King's intimates 
assured one another that he was recovering, while they saw clearly 
that in reality he was growing worse. 

Early in the morning of June 20, 1837, William IV. yielded his last 
breath. Lord Archbishop Howley and the Chamberlain, Lord Oonyng- 
ham, left Windsor immediately, taking a coach to London for the pur- 
pose of announcing to the Princess Victoria her accession to the throne 
of the British Empire. The aged King of seventy-six was succeeded 
by the maiden of eighteen. 



CHAPTER ni. 

THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

Victoria is Informed That She is Queen— How She Received the Tidings— Her First Coun- 
cil — Her Address to the Dignitaries — Condition of the Empire at the Time of Her Ac- 
cession — Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister — The Queen Removes to Buckingham 
Palace — ^Amelioration of the Criminal Laws — Daily Life of Her Majesty — ^Insurrection 
in the Two Canadas — Reform of the Canadian Constitution — The Coronation — War 
in China— Difficulties of the Young Sovereign. 



ORD ARCHBISHOP HOWLEY and Lord Conyngham reached 
Kensington Palace about five o'clock in the mornino;, and 



knocked, rang, and beat at the doors several times before they 
could gain admission. When at length the porter was 
aroused, the visitors were shown into one of the lower rooms, where 
a long time passed without any attention being paid to them. Grow- 
ing impatient, they rang the bell, and desired that the attendant on 
the Princess Victoria might be sent to inform her Royal Highness that 
they requested an audience on business of imj)ortance. Another long 
delay ensued, and again the bell was rung, that some explanation 
might be given of the difficulty which appeared to exist. On the Prin- 
cess' attendant making her appearance, she declared that Her Royal 
Highness was in so sweet a sleep that she could not venture to disturb 
her. It was now evident that stronger measures must be taken, and 
one of the visitors said, "We have come on business of state to the 
Queen, and even her sleep must give way to that." The attendant dis- 
appeared, and a few minutes afterwards the young Sovereign came 
into the room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap 
thrown off, and her hair falling upon her shoulders, her feet in slip- 
pers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified. 

This piquant bit of description, regarding the young Queen's 
appearance, is from Miss Wynn's "Diaries of a Lady of Quality"; and 
although it is repeated by most biographers of Her Majesty, and has 
been given the dignity of historic record by Mr. Justin McCarthy in 
his "History of Our Own Times," it must not be overlooked that Mr. 
Greville, Clerk of the Council, who arrived at the Palace a few hours 
later, and received his information from the Lord Chamberlain, relates 

88 




Four Generations of English Boyal Family 

late Queen Victoria, King Edward VII., Duke of York and the latter's son, Edward 




Victoria in Wedding Dress 

Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert took place in St. James' Palace 
on Feb. 10, 1840. On her head Her Majesty wore a simple wreath of orange 
blossoms, and her magnificent veil did not cover her face, but hung down on each 
shoulder. Her ornaments were a pair of large diamond earrings, a diamond 
necklace, and the collar of the Order of the Garter. 




Queen Victoria's Favorite Dog, Sharp 




Queen Victoria in her Garden Chaise 

(Photograph from Life.) 




QT7EEN Victoria 

The late Ruler of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India, was born 
May 24, 1819; crowned, June 28, 1837; Opened her first Parliament, Novem- 
ber 20, 1837; Married to Prince Albert, February 10, 1840; Birth of Victoria Adelaide, 
November 21, 1840; Albert Edward born, November 9, 1841; First visit to Scotland 
September 1, 1842; Corn law repealed June 26, 1846; Declaration of war against 
Russia, February 28, 1854; Thanksgiving for suppression of Indian mutiny, May 1, 
1859; Prince Consort died, December 14, 1861; Proclaimed Empress of India, May 1, 
1875; Celebration of Golden Jubilee, June 24, 1887; Duke of Clarence died, January 
2, 1892; Inaugurated Manchester Ship Canal, May 21, 1894; Celebration of Diamond 
Jubilee, June 24, 1897; War decl^ired in South Africa, October 12, 1899; Pretoria 
capitulated. May 30, 1900; Died, Jafnuary 22, 1901. 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGNS 93 

that, "On the morning of the King's death the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury and Lord Conyngham arrived at Kensington at five o'clock, and 
immediately desired to see 'the Queen.' They were ushered into an 
apartment, and in a few minutes the door opened, and she came in 
wrapped in a dressing-gown, and with slippers on her naked feet." 
It is probable that the Queen would and did put on her dressing-gown 
before giving audience to the Primate and Chamberlain, although in 
the excitement of the occasion some one may have mistaken it for her 
nightdress. 

In 1863, when Dean Stanley was on a visit to Osborne, he asked 
Her Majesty if she would give him an account of how the news of her 
accession was conveyed to her, which she did in the following words: 
"It was about 6 a. m. that mamma came and called me, and said I must 
go to see Lord Conyngham directly — alone. I got up, put on my dress- 
ing-gown, and went into a room where I found Lord Conyngham, who 
knelt and kissed my hand, and gave me the certificate of the King's 
death. In an hour from that time Baron Stockmar came. He had 
been sent over by King Leopold on hearing of the King's dangerous 
illness. At 2 p. m. that same day I went to the Council led by my two 
uncles, the King of Hanover and the Duke of Cambridge." All 
accounts agree that, immediately the momentous tidings of her acces- 
sion were conveyed to the Queen, she turned to the Primate, and said, 
"I ask your Grace to pray for me." And so was begun, with the tears 
and prayers of a pure young girl, the glorious reign of Victoria. 

Queen Victoria seated herself on a throne which had been placed 
in the council chamber, and Lord Chancellor Cottenham administered 
the customary oath taken by the Sovereigns of England on their acces- 
sion. The Princes, Peers, Privy Councillors and Cabinet Ministers, 
next took the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, kneeling before the 
throne. The Queen caused these distinguished persons to be sworn 
in as members of the Council, and the Cabinet Ministers, having sur- 
rendered their seals of office, immediately received them back from 
Her Majesty, and kissed her hand on their reappointment. Having 
ordered the necessary alterations in the official stamps and form of 
prayer, the Council drew up and signed the proclamation of the 
Queen's accession, which was publicly read on the following day. One 
of the principal incidents of that memorable council was the reading 
by the Queen of an address which ran as follows: 



94 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

"The severe and afflicting loss which the nation has sustained by 
the death of His Majesty, my beloved uncle, has developed upon me 
the duty of administering the government of this Empire. This awful 
responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a 
period, that I should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden, were 
I not sustained hj the hope that Divine Providence, which has called 
me to this work, will give me strength for the performance of it, and 
that I shall find, in the purity of my intentions, and in my zeal for 
the public welfare, that support and those resources which usually 
belong to a more mature age and longer experience. I place my firm 
reliance upon the wisdom of Parliament, and upon the loyalty and 
affection of my people. I esteem it also a peculiar advantage that I 
succeed to a Sovereign whose constant regard for the rights and liberty 
of his subjects, and whose desire to promote the amelioration of the 
laws and institutions of the country, have rendered his name the object 
of general attachment and veneration. Educated in England, under 
the tender and affectionate care of a most affectionate mother, I have 
learned from my infancy to respect and love the constitution of my 
native country. It will be my unceasing study to maintain the 
reformed religion as by law established, securing at the same time, to 
all, the full enjoyment of religious liberty; and I shall steadily protect 
the rights, and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and 
welfare, of all classes of my subjects." 

The demeanor of the Queen on this difficult and agitating occasion 
is described as composed and dignified. She received the homage of 
the nobility without any undue excitement, and her delivery of the 
address was an admirable specimen of the clear and impressive read- 
ing to which the public afterwards became accustomed. Occasionally 
she glanced towards Lord Melbourne for guidance; but this occurred 
very seldom, and for the most part her self-possession was remarkable. 
The quietude of manner was now and then broken by touches of 
natural feeling which moved the hearts of all present. Her Majesty 
was particularly considerate to the Royal Dukes, her uncles; and when 
the Duke of Sussex, who was infirm, presented himself to take the oath 
of allegiance, and was about to kneel, she anticipated his action, kissed 
his cheek, and said, with great tenderness of tone and gesture, "Do not 
kneel, my uncle, for I am still Victoria, your niece." 

The new Sovereign was proclaimed under the title of "Alexandrina 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 95 

Victoria;" but the first name was not officially used after that day. In 
some respects, the accession of Queen Victoria took place at a fortu- 
nate time. England was at peace with all foreign powers; her colonies 
were undisturbed, with the exception of Canada, where some long- 
seated discontents were on the eve of breaking out into a rebellion 
which for a while proved formidable; and, about three years before, 
slavery had ceased in all British possessions. At home, several of the 
more difficult questions of politics and statecraft had been settled, 
either permanently or for a time, in the two preceding reigns; so that 
large sections of the people, formerly disloyal, or at least unfriendly 
to the existing order, were well disposed towards a form of govern- 
ment which no longer appeared in the light of an oppression. 

Lord Melbourne, who held the office of Prime Minister at the time 
of the Queen's accession, was an easy-tempered man of the world, well 
versed in political affairs, but possessed of little power as a speaker, 
and distinguished rather for tact than high statesmanship. It was 
from this not very profound statesman that Her Majesty received her 
first j)racticar instructions in the theory and working of the British 
constitution. That Lord Melbourne discharged his office with ability, 
devotion, and conscientiousness, is generally admitted; but it may be 
questioned whether he did not, however unintentionally, give some- 
thing of a party bias to Her Majesty's conceptions of policy, and 
whether his teachings did not considerably depress the regal power 
in England. 

At this first Council of the new reign it was arranged that on the 
next day (June 21), Her Majesty should be publicly proclaimed at St. 
-James' Palace at ten a. m., and that the proclamation should be fol- 
lowed by another meeting of the Council. These arrangements hav- 
ing been made, the Queen sent for Ix)rd Albemarle, the Master of the 
Horse, who, hastening to her presence before she had retired from the 
Oouncil chamber, begged that he might be honored with Her Majesty's 
orders. "I have no order to give," was the gracious reply; "You know 
all this so much better than I do, that I leave it all to you. I am to be 
at St. James' at ten to-morrow, and must beg you to find me a convey- 
ance fit for the occasion." 

Lord Albemarle was mindful of the command given him by his 
mistress, and the more desirous to do her bidding in grand style, 
because the details of the affair had been committed to his discretion. 



96 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

Leaving Kensington Palace, the Queen drove with the Duchess of 
Kent in state to St. James', where her accession and dignity were pub- 
licly proclaimed. 

On the 13th of July the Queen, accompanied by her mother, quitted 
Kensington, and took up her abode at Buckingham Palace. It must 
have been a period of sad good-byes, for the young Queen was quitting 
the home of her birth and the haunts of her childhood, as well as leav- 
ing many loyal hearts around whom her own had entwined. No one 
was forgotten in her leave-takings; even a poor sick girl, the daughter 
of Hillman, an old servant of her father's, was made happy by the 
present of a book of Psalms marked with the dates of the days on 
which the Queen had been accustomed to read them, and in the book 
was a marker with a peacock worked on it by her own hands. 

On the ITtli of July, scarcely a month after her accession, the Queen 
prorogued Parliament in person. It was said that the Duchess of Kent 
and Her Majesty's physician endeavored to persuade her not to under- 
take such an exciting ordeal. In fact, the "old folks" about the young 
Queen undoubtedly showed a disposition to keep her away from great 
public ceremonials, thinking it not "quite nice" for a young maiden 
to be exhibited to a thronging populace. They had counted without 
their host. Victoria had made up her mind to be a Queen in fact, and 
not a mere figure-head, and she quickly proved that she could perform 
the duties of her high estate without losing anything of her delicacy 
and modesty as a woman. As for the excitement affecting her health, 
she laughed merrily at the idea, and bade her physician remember that 
after her very quiet life she found pageants and ceremonials most 
diverting. So a splendid new throne was set up in the House of Lords, 
and around it was blazoned in gold letters "Victoria Regina." The 
Queen was dressed for the ceremony in a white satin kirtle embroid- 
ered in gold, over which was a crimson robe of velvet, trimmed with 
ermine. The robe was confined at the waist and shoulders with a gold 
cord and tassels. Her stomacher was a mass of flashing jewels, and 
she wore diamond bracelets and the armlet of the Garter. On her 
arrival at the House the upper part of her dress was exchanged for the 
parliamentary robes of crimson and ermine. She laughed and chatted 
gaily with her ladies as they robed her, and, preceded by the heralds 
and lords-in-waiting and attended by all the great officers of State, 
entered the House, wearing for the first time a diadem upon he'^ brow. 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 97 

She ascended the throne with a firm step, and remained standing and 
smiling as the lords-in-waiting completed her attire with the mantle 
of purple velvet. Then in musical accents came the words, "My Lords, 
be seated," and the time-honored ceremonial began. The reading of 
the Queen's speech was the event of the day. "I never heard anything 
better read in my life than her speech," wrote Charles Sumner, who 
was present; and the Duke of Sussex, when she had finished, wiped 
his eyes as he exclaimed, "Beautiful! beautiful!" 

As soon as the Queen was settled at Windsor Castle she received 
a visit from her Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, and his consort 
Louise, daughter of Louis Philippe. One can imagine that the royal 
hostess spared no pains to fittingly entertain the uncle to whose kind- 
ness she owed so much in childhood. The Queen was her own house- 
keeper, so far as circumstances permitted, and she managed things 
right royally, but never contracted a debt. She arranged dinner-par- 
ties, had delightful impromptu dances, picnics on Virginia Water, 
organized riding and driving-parties, and got up little evening con- 
certs, at the Castle, at which she frequently sang herself. She was in 
the saddle most days for two or three hours, attended by a gay caval- 
cade of ladies and gentlemen. The Queen's passion for riding infected 
all the women of the country. Usually the Queen wore a green cloth 
riding-habit and a black beaver hat; but when, in the autumn, she 
reviewed the troops in the Home Park, she made quite a martial figure 
mounted on a splendid grey charger and dressed in a blue cloth coat 
and skirt and a military cap with a deep gold border. From Windsor 
she proceeded to Brighton, took possession of the Pavilion, and had a 
gay time as she took the sea air. She was back again in London in 
November, and on Lord Mayor's Day made a State entrance into the 
City, knighted the Mayor and the two Sheriffs (one of whom was Sir 
Moses Montefiore), and dined at the Guildhall. Never had Gog and 
Magog looked down upon a fairer guest than the young Queen in her 
pink and silver brocaded silk gown. A little contretemps happened 
at the dinner. Her Majesty's lace ruffles, having accidentally become 
entangled with her bouquet and fan, which, with her smelling-bottle, 
she had laid on the table beside her plate, were the occasion of break- 
ing the wine-glass from which she had just drunk the toast of the Lord 
Mayor and the City of London — an accident which caused her some 
little annoyance. On the 20th of November the Queen opened her first 



98 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

Parliament, and was greeted during her progress to the House by the 
most loyal demonstrations. The question of the Civil List was settled 
during the session, and the sum of £385,000 was voted as the annual 
income for the young Sovereign. One of the first things which Her 
Majesty did with her income was to pay her father's debts, contracted 
before she was born. It was also said that the Duchess of Kent met 
with a pleasant surprise one morning when she found on her breakfast 
table receipts for all outstanding debts. It must be remembered that 
the Duke of Kent owed his monetary difficulties to his generosity, and 
that his income was inadequate for a royal duke. 

But to turn to the more arduous side of the Queen's life. Upon her 
accession she made her choice in favor of being a working Queen rather 
than a show monarch, and it became the duty of her Prime Minister, 
Lord Melbourne, to instruct her in statecraft. She proved a very apt 
pupil, and a somewhat trying one, too, for she would know the why 
and w^herefore of every document laid before her, and signed nothing 
until she had read it. When the Prime Minister apologized for bring- 
ing so many business dispatches, the Queen replied: "My Lord, the 
attention required from me is only a change of occupation. I have 
not hitherto led a life of leisure, for I have not long left my lessons." 

There are many well-known stories about the business exactitude 
of the young Sovereign and of her conscientious scruples; and it is said 
that Lord Melbourne declared that he "would rather manage ten 
Kings than one Queen," notwithstanding that the courtly Melbourne 
liked his position of chief adviser to a lovely young Queen vastly. He 
was close upon sixty years of age, cultured, polished, every inch a 
courtier, a man of the world, and a man of honor. There is no doubt 
that he was an old beau and devoted to the sex. He had no family of 
his own, no one to love, and he devoted himself to the young Queen 
with the affection of a father. He was the leader of the Whig party, 
then in power; but even the Tory leaders acknowledged his aptitude 
for the delicate post of adviser to the Maiden Monarch. The Duke of 
Wellington said, "I have no small talk, and Peel has no manners, and 
so the Queen must be left to Melbourne." The Prime Minister's atti- 
tude to Her Majesty was far from obsequious, but it conveyed respect- 
ful deference, and was winning and sincere. He lived at the Castle, 
and for the Queen's sake accustomed himself to a mode of life which 
in other circumstances would have been an intolerable "bore." In the 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN, 99 

Queen's presence he usually took care only to speak the Queen's Eng- 
lish, and pruned his speech of all needless expletives; but on one occa- 
sion he forgot himself. He was sitting in his accustomed place at the 
Queen's left hand at dinner, when the conversation turned upon the 
recent conversion of Sir Kobert Peel and the Tories to Free Trade and 
the Corn Laws. "Ma'am," said Melbourne excitedly, "it is a dis- 
honest act." The ladies-in-waiting were in a state of consternation; 
but the Queen, with the admirable tact and good sense which always 
distinguished her, laughingly told her minister that he might discuss 
the Corn Laws with her in private. 

The persons who exercised the chief influence upon the Queen at 
this time were Baron Stockmar, the trusted friend of her uncle. King 
Leopold, who had been dispatched by him to the British Court to 
watch over his niece's welfare; the Baroness Lehzen, her former gover- 
ness, and now her private secretary; the beautiful Duchess of Suther- 
land, her favorite lady-in-waiting; and, of course, her mother, the 
Duchess of Kent, who was always her daughter's loved companion, 
though she took no part in affairs of State. Still, it was to Lord Mel- 
bourne that the young Queen always turned for advice. The oracular 
Stockmar, who became such an important figure in Court circles after 
Her Majesty's marriage, remained for the time in the background. His 
chief function was to watch "how the wind blew" with regard to Prince 
Albert of Coburg, the devoted lover whom the coy young Queen was 
keeping at a distance. In homely phrase, she meant "to enjoy herself 
for a few years before she got married." 

The Queen's life at Windsor was regulated with due regard for her 
many duties. She rose at eight, breakfasted with her mother — who 
was so strict in her observance of etiquette that she never came to her 
Queen-daughter's presence until she was summoned — then, dressed in 
her white silk robe de chambre, the Queen received Lord Melbourne 
in her boudoir, read the dispatches, and transacted State business. 
Later in the morning she gave audience, when necessary, to Cabinet 
Ministers. At two o'clock she rode out, generally at full gallop, 
attended by her numerous suite, and with Lord Melbourne on her left 
hand. After riding she amused herself with music and singing and 
playing with the children, if there were any staying in the Castle. At 
eight o'clock she entered the room where the guests were assembled 
for dinner, spoke to each lady, bowed to the men, and, taking the arm 



100 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

of the most distinguislied man present, walked into the dining-room. 
The Queen had one little rule which one notes with interest. She 
would not allow the gentlemen to remain over their after-dinner wine 
more than a quarter of an hour, and always remained standing in the 
drawing-room until they made their appearance. The evening was 
spent in music and conversation, varied by quadrille parties; the 
Duchess of Kent always having her rubber of whist. At half-past 
eleven the Queen retired. Her life at Windsor was varied by sojourns 
at Buckingham Palace and at the Pavilion at Brighton. Wherever 
she was, each hour of the day was mapped out, and she spent no idle 
moments, having the happy faculty for working when she worked and 
playing when she played. If the Queen had led a quiet, uneventful 
girlhood, she certainly made up for lost time now, and there was no 
one in Her Majesty's dominions who enjoyed life with its pleasures and 
gaieties more thoroughly. 

The first great historical event in the reign of Queen Victoria was 
the insurrection in Canada. This proved to be of very serious import, 
and undoubtedly showed the existence of much disaffection on the part 
of the French-speaking colonists. It is probable that the latter had 
never outgrown the mortification of being snatched from their old 
association with the mother-country, and subjected to a Protestant 
kingdom. For several years after the treaty of 1763, which made over 
Canada to Great Britain as a consequence of the brilliant victories 
gained by Wolfe and Amherst, the colony was despotically ruled; but 
in 1791 a more representative form of government was established, by 
which the whole possession was divided into an Upper and a Lower 
Province. Each of the provinces was furnished with a Constitution, 
comprising a Governor, an Executive Council nominated by the Crown, 
a Legislative Council appointed for life in the same way, and a Eepre- 
sentative Assembly elected for four years. This Constitution (which 
had been sanctioned by an act of the British Parliament) worked very 
badly, and in 1837 the assemblies of both Provinces were at issue with 
their Governors, and with the Councils appointed by the Monarch. 
But by far the most serious state of affairs was that which prevailed 
in Lower (or Eastern) Canada, where the population was mainly of 
French origin, and where, consequently, the antagonism of race and 
religion was chiefly to be expected. Towards the latter end of the 
reign of William IV., commissioners were appointed to inquire into 





The Queei^^ Tisiting Highlaiv^d Te^takts. 

One of the Greatest Monuments to Queen Victoria is in the fact that in all the relation- of 7if<^ 
as wife mother, friend, neighbor, and stranger even, she was, if we may accept the concurrent testN 
mony of those who knew her best, conscientious, honest, sincere, kinfl, ind true /-""^-^rrent testi- 

after all. her grandest monument. 



This record will be. 




ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, The last public rites over the late Queen took place here. 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 103 

the alleged grievances, and the report of these gentlemen was pre- 
sented to Parliament early in the session of 1837. On March 6, Lord 
John Russell, then Home Secretary, brought the subject to the atten- 
tion of the House of Commons, and, after many prolonged debates, a 
series of resolutions was passed, affirming the necessity of certain 
reforms in the political state of Canada. These reforms, however, did 
not go nearly far enough to satisfy the requirements of the disaffected, 
and by the close of 1837 the Canadians were in full revolt. 

When the Queen opened her first Parliament, on November 20, the 
state of Lower Canada was recommended, in the Royal speech, to the 
"serious consideration" of the Legislature. Before any measures could 
be taken, intelligence of the outbreak reached England, and, on 
December 22, Lord John Russell informed the House of Commons that 
the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada had been adjourned, on 
its refusal to entertain the supplies, or to proceed to business, in con- 
sequence of what were deemed the insufficient proposals of the 
Imperial Government. The colonists undoubtedly had some griev- 
ances of old standing, and their Constitution required amendment in a 
popular sense. But a position had been assumed which the advisers of 
the Crown could not possibly tolerate, and the malcontents were now 
in arms against the just and legal authority of the sovereign. As early 
as March Lord John Russell had said that, since October, 1832, no pro- 
vision had been made by the legislators of Lower Canada for defraying 
the charges of the administration of justice, or for the support of civil 
government in the Province. The arrears amounted to a very large 
sum, which the House of Assembly refused to vote, while at the same 
time demanding an elected legislative council and entire control over 
all branches of the Government. 

The insurgents of Canada had numerous sympathizers in the United 
States, where many people began to hope that existing complications 
might effect the annexation of the two Provinces to the great Republic. 
Those who were the most earnest in their views soon passed from sym- 
pathy into action. In the latter days of 1837 a party of Americans 
seized on Navy Island a small piece of territory, situated on Niagara 
River a little above the Falls, and belonging to Canada. Numbering 
as many as seven hundred and having with them twenty pieces of can- 
non, these unauthorized volunteers seemed likely to prove formidable; 
but their means of defense was soon diminished by an energetic, though 



104 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN, 

somewliat irregular, proceeding on the part of the Canadian authorities, 
acting, as was afterwards well known, under the orders of Sir Francis 
Head, the Governor of Upper Canada. 

A small steamboat owned by the American invaders, with which 
they kept up communication with their own side of the river, and which 
was laden with arms and ammunition for the insurgents, was cut adrift 
from her moorings on the night of December 29, set on fire and left to 
sweep over the cataract. The affair led to a great deal of diplomatic 
correspondence between the British and American Governments; but 
the preceding violation of Canadian soil by a body of adventurers 
precluded the Cabinet at Washington from making any serious demands 
on that of London. Ultimately, in the course of 1838, President Van 
Buren issued a proclamation calling on all persons engaged in schemes 
for invading Canada to desist from the same, on pain of such punish- 
ments as the law attached to the offense. This put an end to the diflft- 
culty so far as the two countries were concerned; but the insurrection 
was not yet entirely suppressed. 

Although the worst disaffection was in Lower Canada, both Prov- 
inces were disturbed by movements of a disloyal nature. In the autumn 
of 1837 a small party of English troops was beaten at St. Denis; but 
another detachment was successful against the rebels, and the garrisons 
of the various cities, though extremely small, held their own against 
the rising tide of insurrection. Aided by the Royalists, the Govern- 
ment force under Sir John Colborne inflicted some severe blows on the 
enemy; yet the movement continued throughout the greater part of 
1838. On the 16th of January in that year, however, the Earl of Durham 
was appointed Governor-General of the five British colonies of North 
America, and Lord High Commissioner for the Adjustment of Affairs 
in Canada. A liberal policy was inaugurated, which brought the revolt 
to an end before the close of the year, and the colony soon after entered 
upon a future of prosperity. 

But we must now pass on to the Coronation, the great event of 1838, 
and one of the greatest spectacles of Her Majesty's reign. Long before 
the day fixed for the ceremony the deepest interest was manifested in it. 
Amongst the proclamations issued was one declaring it to be the Queen's 
royal will and pleasure to dispense with, at her approaching Coro- 
nation, all the ceremonies usually performed in Westminster Hall on 
such an occasion. These ceremonies included the entry of the Cham- 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 105 

pion of England on horseback, whose right it was to throw down his 
gauntlet in defense of the sovereign, challenging any one to take it up. 
Another proclamatioii stated that the peers were to be relieved from 
doing homage in the usual fashion by kissing the left cheek of the sov- 
ereign. One can imagine the girl-Queen's dismay if this ancient custom 
had been maintained in her case. For her royal uncles to kiss her 
cheek was only a natural proceeding, but that some six hundred spirit- 
ual and temporal peers should follow each other in kissing the sov- 
ereign's left cheek would have been an appalling prospect. The old 
custom was for each peer, according to his rank and profession, singly 
to ascend the throne, to touch with his hand the crown on the sovereign's 
head, and then to kiss her on her cheek. Though all the peers would 
no doubt have taken care to be present on such an interesting occasion, 
it cannot be matter of surprise that they were relieved from this and 
other onerous duties. 

The first issue of sovereigns bearing the impress of Queen Victoria 
took place on June 14, but the bankers were only supplied with limited 
numbers, and could not gratify the whole of their clamorous customers 
at once. 

The crown in which the Queen was to appear at the Coronation was 
made, and exhibited for public inspection, by Messrs. Rundell & Bridge. 
It was more tasteful than that worn by George IV. and William IV., 
which had been broken up. The old crown weighed more than, seven 
pounds, and the new, which was smaller, only about three pounds. It 
was composed of hoops of silver, enclosing a cap of deep blue velvet; 
the hoops were completely covered with precious stones, surmounted 
by a ball covered with small diamonds, and having a Maltese cross of 
brilliants on the top of it. The cross had in its center a splendid sap- 
phire; the rim of the crown was clustered with brilliants, and orna- 
mented with fleur-de-lis and Maltese crosses, equally rich. In the front 
of the large Maltese cross was the enormous heart-shaped ruby which 
had been worn by Edward, the Black Prince, and which afterwards 
figured in the helmet of Henry V. at the battle of Agincourt. Beneath 
this, in the circular rim, was a large oblong sapphire. There were many 
other precious gems, emeralds, rubies and sapphires, and several small 
clusters of drop pearls. The lower part of the crown was surrounded 
with ermine. The value of the jewels on the crown was estimated at 
£112,760. The following is a summary of the precious stones comprised 



106 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

in the crown: 1 large ruby, irregularly golished; 1 large bjcoadspread 
eapphirie; 16 sapphires; 11 emeralds; 4 rubles; 1,S63 briUiant diamonds; 
1,273 rose diamonds; 147 table diamonds; 4 drop-shgped pearls; 273 
other pearls. 

Amid great pomp and ceremony the coronation of Her Majesty took 
place in Westminster Abbey, on Thursday, the 28th of June. London 
was awake very early on that day, and by 6 o'clock strings of vehicles 
poured into the West End. Crowds of foot-passengers also were on the 
move, all converging towards one point. From Hyde Park Corner to 
the Abbey there was scarcely a house without a scaffolding, soon to be 
filled with sightseers. Seats were sold at a very high rate, while tickets 
for the interior of the Abbey were bought on the eve of the ceremony 
at more than twenty guineas each; and the Earl Marshal had to apprise 
the public that forged tickets were in circulation, the holders of which 
would not only be stopped but given into custody. Notwithstanding 
the immense number of persons in the Green Park and St. James' Park, 
and in the vicinity of Buckingham Palace, the police and military pre- 
served admirable order. 

At 10 o'clock a salute of twenty-one guns, and the hoisting of the 
imperial standard in front of the palace, intimated that Her Majesty 
had entered the state carriage. The procession then set forth, pre- 
ceded by trumpeters and a detachment of Life Guards. Then came the 
foreign Ministers and Ambassadors, followed by the carriages of the 
royal family, containing the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Glou- 
cester, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex; 
next Her Majesty's carriages, containing the members of the household 
and others; and then, after officers and guards of various kinds, came 
the state coach, drawn by eight cream-colored horses, conveying 
the Queen and the Mistress of the Kobes and Master of the Horse. All 
the royal personages were loudly cheered, but when the state carriage 
bearing the young sovereign came in view the enthusiasm was some- 
thing tremendous. Her Majesty appeared in excellent spirits, and 
highly delighted with the imposing scene. The troops saluted in succes- 
sion as she passed, and remained with presented arms until the royal 
carriage had passed the front of each battalion, the bands continuing 
to play the National Anthem. To the credit of the crowd, a hearty cheer 
was raised for Marshal Soult, which the French veteran acknowledged 
with great satisfaction, not unmingled with surprise. It is said that 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 107 

every window along the route was a bouquet, every balcony a parterre 
of living loveliness and beauty; and as the Queen passed, scarfs, hand- 
kerchiefs and flowers were waved with the most boisterous enthusiasm. 
Her Majesty was more than once visibly affected by tliese exhilarating 
demonstrations, and occasionally turned to the Duchess of Sutherland 
to conceal or express her emotion. 

Westminster Abbey was reached at half-past eleven. On each side 
the nave, galleries were erected for the spectators, with accommodation 
for a thousand persons. Under the central tower of the Abbey, in the 
interior of the choir, a platform was raised, covered with a carpet of 
cloth of gold, and upon it the chair of homage, superb in gilt, was placed, 
facing the altar. Further on, within the chancel, and near the altar, 
was Edward the Confessor's chair. The altar was covered with massive 
gold plate. Galleries were provided for members of the House of Com- 
mons, foreign Ambassadors and other persons of distinction, the Judges, 
Masters in Chancery, Knights of the Bath, the Lord Mayor and the 
members of the Corporation, etc. 

Shortly before noon the grand procession began to enter the choir. 
It was headed by the prebendaries and Dean of Westminster, followed 
by the great officers of Her Majesty's household. Then came the Lord 
Privy Seal, the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chancellor of 
Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh, the Archbishop of York, the Lord 
Chancellor of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Prin- 
cesses of the blood royal succeeded: the Duchess of Cambridge, in a robe 
of estate and purple velvet and wearing a circlet of gold, her train borne 
by Lady Caroline Campbell, and her coronet by Viscount Villiers; the 
Duchess of Kent, in a robe of estate of purple velvet and wearing a 
circlet of gold, her train borne by the hapless Lady Flora Hastings, and 
her coronet by Viscount Emlyn. Next came one of the most interest- 
ing parts of the procession — the Regalia. St. Edward's staff was borne 
by the Duke of Roxburgh e; the golden spurs by Lord Byron; the scepter 
with- the cross by the Duke of Cleveland; the curtana, or sword of 
mercy, by the Duke of Devonshire; the second sword by the Duke of 
Sutherland, and the third sword by the Marquis of Westminster. Black 
Rod and Deputy Garter were succeeded by Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, 
Lord Great Chamberlain of England. The Princes of the blood royal 
now appeared: the Duke of Cambridge, in his robes and carrying his 
baton as Field Marshal; and the Duke of Sussex, also in his robes of 



108 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

estate. Then in order were tlie High Constable of Ireland, the Duke of 
Leinster; the High Constable of Scotland, the Earl of Erroll; the Earl 
Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk; Viscount Melbourne, bearing 
the sword of State; the Lord High Constable of England, the Duke of 
Wellington; the Bishop of Bangor, bearing the patina; the Bishop of 
Winchester, bearing the Bible; and the Bishop of London, bearing the 
chalice. After these came the Queen, in her royal robe of crimson vel- 
vet, furred with ermine and bordered with gold lace, wearing the collars 
of her orders, with a circlet of gold upon her head. On one side of her 
was the Bishop of Bath and Wells, with ten gentlemen-at-arms ; and on 
the other the Bishop of Durham, also with ten gentlemen-at-arms. Her 
Majesty's train was borne by the following eight young ladies, the 
daughters of well-known noblemen of high rank in the peerage : Lady 
Adelaide Paget, Lady Frances Elizabeth Cowper, Lady Ann Wentworth 
Fitzwilliam, Lady Mary Augusta Frederica Grimston, Lady Caroline 
Amelia Gordon Lennox, Lady Mary Alethea Beatrix Talbot, Lady Cath- 
erine Lucy Wilhelmina Stanhope and Lady Louisa Harriet Jenkinson. 
The last distinguished personages in the procession were the Lord 
Chamberlain of the Household ; the Duchess of Sutherland, Mistress of 
the Robes; the Marchioness of Lansdowne, First Lady of the Bed- 
chamber; six other ladies of the bedchamber; eight maids of honor; 
eight women of the bedchamber; Gold Stick of the Life Guards; the 
Master of the Horse; the Captain of the Guard, and other high officials. 

The scene which followed Her Majesty's entry into the Abbey was 
one of the most impressive which could possibly be conceived. From a 
variety of sources we have gathered our description of its most interest- 
ing features. The Queen looked extremely well, and had a very ani- 
mated expression of countenance. Some of the foreign Ambassadors 
had numerous and splendid suites, and were magnificently attired; but 
by far the most gorgeous was Prince Bsterhazy, whose dress, down to 
his very boot-heels, sparkled with diamonds. The scene within the 
choir which presented itself to the Queen on her entrance was very 
gorgeous, and indeed almost overwhelming. The Turkish Ambassador, 
it is reported, was absolutely bewildered; he stopped in astonishment, 
and for some time would not move up to his allotted place. 

The Queen was received with hearty plaudits as she advanced slowly 
towards the center of the choir; the anthem, "I was glad when they said 
unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord," being meanwhile sung 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 109 

by the musicians. Then, with thrilling effect and full trumpet accom- 
paniment, "God Save the Queen" was rendered. The booming of the 
guns outside was deadened by the tumultuous acclamations of those 
within the Abbey, which did not close till the beloved object of this 
enthusiastic homage reached the recognition-chair, on the southeast 
of the altar. Here the Queen knelt at the faldstool, engaging in silent 
prayer. Her mind must have been agitated with deep and conflicting 
emotions at this awful moment, when the vast weight of her responsi- 
bilities pressed in upon her. There were many who shed tears as the 
simple maiden, the center of so much splendor and the cynosure of a 
whole Empire, implored the Divine strength in the fulfilment of her 
sovereign duties. 

When she rose from her devotions the pealing notes of the anthem 
rang through the arches of the Abbey. Scarcely had the music ceased 
when, in pursuance of their prescriptive right, the Westminster scholars 
rose up with one accord and acclaimed their sovereign. They shouted 
in almost deafening chorus, "Victoria, Victoria! Vivat Victoria 
Eegina!" This was the first actual incident in the proceedings of the 
Coronation. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury now advanced from his station at 
the great southeast pillar to the east side of the theater or platform, 
accompanied by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Great Chamberlain, the High 
Constable and the Earl Marshal, preceded by Garter King-at-Arms; and 
presenting the youthful monarch to her people, made the recognition 
in these words: 

"Sirs, I here present unto you Queen Victoria, the undoubted Queen 
of this realm; wherefore, all you who are come this day to do your 
homage, are you willing to do the same?" 

In response there was a rapturous and general shout of "God save 
Queen Victoria!" The Archbishop and the great officers of state made 
the same recognition to the people on the other three sides of the Abbey, 
south, west and north; the Queen remaining standing, and turning her- 
self about to face her loyal lieges on each side as the recognition was 
made, which was answered with long and repeated acclamations. The 
last recognition over, the drums beat, the trumpets sounded and the 
band struck up the National Anthem. This part of the ceremonial has 
been described as one of the most striking and picturesque. 

The Bishops who bore the patina, Bible and chalice in the procession 



no THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

now placed the same on the altar. The Queen, attended by the Bishops 
of Durham and Bath and Wells and the Dean of Westminster, with 
the great officers of state and noblemen bearing the regalia, advanced 
to the altar, and, kneeling upon the crimson-velvet cushion, made her 
first offering, being a pall or altar-cloth of gold, which she delivered to 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, by whom it was placed on the altar. Her 
Majesty next placed an ingot of gold, of one pound weight, in the hands 
of the Archbishop, by whom it was put into the oblation basin. The 
bearers of the regalia, except those who carried the swords, then pro- 
ceeded in order to the altar, where they delivered St. Edward's crown, 
the scepter, dove, orb, spurs and all the other insignia of royalty, to the 
Archbishop, who delivered them to the Dean of Westminster, by whom 
they were placed on the altar. The religious ceremony now began with 
the reading of the Litany by the Bishops of Worcester and St. David's. 
Then followed the Communion Service, read by the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury and the Bishops of Rochester and Carlisle. The Bishop of Lon- 
don preached the sermon from the following text, in the Second Book 
of Chronicles, chap, xxxiv, verse 31st : 

"And the King stood in his place, and made a covenant before the 
Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His 
testimonies and statutes, and with all his heart and all his soul to 
perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book." 

Her Majesty paid profound attention to the words of the sermon, in 
the course of which the Bishop praised the late King for his unfeigned 
religion, and exhorted his youthful successor to follow in his footsteps. 
The earnest manner in which she listened, and the motion with which, 
at the mention of her dead uncle, she bowed her head on her hand to 
conceal a falling tear, were highly touching. 

On the conclusion of the service the Archbishop advanced towards 
the Queen, addressing her thus: 

"Madam, is Your Majesty willing to take the oath?" 

The Queen replied, "I am willing." 

"Will you solemnly promise and swear," continued the Archbishop, 
"to govern the people of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- 
land, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes 
in Parliament agreed on, and the respective laws and customs of the 
same?" 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. Ill 

In an audible voice the Queen answered, "I solemnly promise so 
to do." 

"Will you, to your power, cause law and justice, in mercy, to be 
executed in all your judgments?" 

"I will." 

Then said the Archbishop: "Will you, to the utmost of your power, 
maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the 
Protestant reformed religion established by law? And will you main- 
tain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the united Church of 
England and Ireland, and the doctrine, worship, discipline and govern- 
ment thereof, as by law established within England and Ireland and 
the territories thereunto belonging? And will you preserve unto the 
Bishops and clergy of England and Ireland, and to the churches there 
committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or 
shall appertain to them or any of them?" 

Clearly and firmly the Queen replied: "All this I promise to do." 

Her Majesty, with the Lord Chamberlain and other officers, the 
sword of state being carried before her, then went to the altar and took 
the Coronation oath. Laying her right hand upon the Gospels in the 
Bible carried in the procession, and now brought to her by the Arch- 
bishop, she said, kneeling: 

"The things which I have herebefore promised I will perform and 
keep. So help me, God!" 

Then the Queen kissed the book, and to a transcript of the oath set 
her royal sign manual. The Duchess of Kent was observed to be deeply 
affected during the whole of this office. After signing, Her Majesty 
knelt upon her faldstool while the choir sang Veni^ Creator^ Spiritiis. 

The next part of the ceremony, the anointing, was extremely inter- 
esting. The Queen sat in King Edward's chair; four Knights of the 
Garter — the Dukes of Buccleuch and Butland, and the Marquises of 
Anglesey and Exeter — held a rich cloth of gold over her head; the Dean 
of Westminster took the ampulla from the altar and poured some of the 
oil it contained into the gold anointing-spoon; then the Archbishop 
anointed the head and hands of the Queen, marking them in the form 
of a cross, and pronouncing these words : 

"Be thou anointed with holy oil, as Kings, priests and prophets were 
anointed. And as Solomon was anointed King by Zadok the priest and 
Nathan the prophet, so be you anointed, blessed and consecrated Queen 



112 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

over this people, whom the Lord your God hath given you to rule and 
govern. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. Amen." 

The Archbishop then pronounced a prayer or blessing over the sov- 
ereign. 

The spurs were presented by the Lord Chamberlain to the Queen, 
who returned them to the altar. The sword of state was presented by 
Lord Melbourne to the Archbishop, who in delivering it into the Queen's 
right hand said: "Keceive this kingly sword, brought now from the 
altar of God and delivered to you by the hands of us, the servants and 
Bishops of God, though unworthy. With this sword do justice, stop 
the growth of iniquity, protect the holy Church of God, help and defend 
widows and orphans, restore the things that are gone to decay, maintain 
the things that are restored, punish and reform what is amiss, and 
confirm what is in good order; that doing these things you may be 
glorious in all virtue, and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in 
this life that you may reign forever with Him in the life which is to 
come. Amen." 

Lord Melbourne, according to custom, redeemed the sword "with 
a hundred shillings," and carried it unsheathed before Her Majesty 
during the remainder of the ceremony. Then followed the investing 
with the royal robe and the delivery of the orb. At this point there was 
some little confusion, and when the orb was put into the Queen's hand 
she turned to Lord John Thynne and said: "What am I to do with it?" 
"Your Majesty is to hold it, if you please, in your hand." "Am I?" she 
said: "it is very heavy." As each article of the regalia was given to the 
Queen the Archbishop accompanied it with a suitable exordium. When 
the investiture per annulum et haculum — the ring and sceptre — was 
performed, it was found that the ruby ring had been made for Her 
Majesty's little finger instead of the fourth, on which the rubric pre- 
scribes that it should be put. When the Archbishop was to put it on, 
she extended the former, but he said it must be on the latter. She 
replied that it was too small, and that she could not get it on. The 
Archbishop said it was right to put it there, and as he insisted, she 
yielded, but had first to take off her other rings, and then this was 
forced on, but it hurt her very much, and as soon as the ceremony was 
over she was obliged to bathe her finger in iced water in order to get 
it off. 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 113 

One curious custom was observed by the Duke of Norfolk, who, as 
lord of the manor of Worksop, holds an estate by the service of present- 
ing to the sovereign a right-hand glove during the ceremonial of the 
Coronation. The Duke left his seat, and approaching the Queen, kneel- 
ing, presented to her a glove for her right hand, embroidered with the 
arms of Howard, which Her Majesty put on. His Grace afterwards 
occasionally performed his high feudal office of supporting the sov- 
ereign's right arm, or holding the scepter by her side. 

The Archbishop, in delivering the scepter with the cross into the 
Queen's right hand, said: "Receive the royal scepter, the ensign of 
kingly power and justice." Next he delivered the rod with the dove into 
the Queen's left hand, this being "the rod of equity and mercy." The 
Archbishop then took the crown into his hands, and laying it upon the 
alter, offered up a prayer. Turning from the altar with the other 
Bishops, he now received the crown from the Dean of Westminster and 
placed it on Her Majesty's head; whereupon the people, with loud 
and repeated shouts, cried, "God save the Queen!" At the moment the 
crown was placed on the head of the sovereign the act was made known 
by signal to the semaphore at the Admiralty, from whence it was trans- 
mitted to the outports and other places. A double royal salute of forty- 
one guns was fired, and the Tower, Windsor, Woolwich and other guns 
gave a similar greeting to the crowned monarch of the British realms. 

On the assumption of the crown, the peers and peeresses put on their 
coronets, the bishops their caps, and the kings-of-arms their crowns; 
while the trumpets sounded, the drums beat, and the Tower and park 
guns fired their volleys. Then the full burst of the orchestra broke 
forth, and the scene was one of such grandeur as to defy description. 
The Queen was visibly agitated during the long-reiterated acclama- 
tions. Her bosom heaved with suppressed emotion, and she turned her 
expressive eyes involuntarily, as if for maternal support, on her sympa- 
thizing mother, who, with infinitely less command of her feelings, was 
drowned in tears, and occasionally sobbed most audibly. By a strong 
effort Her Majesty regained her composure, and the august ceremonial 
proceeded. 

After an anthem had been sung, the Archbishop presented the Bible 
to the Queen, who gave it to the Dean of Westminster to be placed on 
the altar. The benediction was then delivered by the Archbishop, all 
the bishops, with the rest of the peers, responding to every part of the 



114 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

blessing with a loud and hearty "Amen!" The choir then began to sing 
the "Te Deum," and the Queen proceeded to the chair which she first 
occupied, supported by two bishops. She was then "enthroned," or 
"lifted," as the formulary states, into the chair of homage, by the arch- 
bishops, bishops, and peers surrounding her. Then began the cere- 
mony of homage. The Archbishop of Canterbury knelt and did homage 
for himself and other lords spiritual, who all kissed the Queen's hand. 
The royal dukes, with the temporal peers, followed according to their 
precedence, class by class. Ascending the steps leading to the throne, 
and taking off their coronets, they repeated the oath of homage in the 
following quaint and homely Saxon form: 

"I do become your liegeman of life and limb, and of earthly worship ; 
and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all 
manner of folks. So help me God !" 

Each peer then in his turn touched the cross on Her Majesty's crown, 
in token of his readiness to support it against all adversaries. He then 
kissed the sovereign's hand and retired. 

A pretty and touching scene took place when the royal dukes, who 
alone kissed Her Majesty's cheek, came forward to do homage. The 
Duke of Sussex, who was suffering from indisposition, was feebly and 
with great difficulty ascending the steps of the throne, when the Queen, 
yielding to the impulse of natural affection, flung her fair arms about 
his neck and tenderly embraced him. The Duke was so overcome by 
this genuine display of feeling that he was supported from the theatre 
by some of the peers, being unable to repress his emotion. 

The Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, and Lord Melbourne were 
loudly cheered as they severally ascended the steps of the throne. 
Another incident which went to the heart of the people — for it showed 
that the Queen's kindness of heart had not forsaken her even in the 
midst of so great a ceremony — occurred when old Lord Rolle, who was 
between eighty and ninety years of age, went up to do homage. Har- 
riet Martineau, who was in the Abbey and witnessed the scene, thus 
describes it: "The homage was as pretty a sight as any: trains of peers 
touching her crown and then kissing her hand. It was in the midst of 
that process that poor Lord Eolle's disaster sent a shock through the 
whole assemblage. It turned me very sick. The large infirm old man 
was held up by two peers, and had nearly reached the royal footstool, 
when he slipped through the hands of his supporters, and rolled over 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 115 

and oyer down the steps, lying at the bottom coiled up in his robes. He 
was instantly lifted np^ and he tried again and again, amidst shouts of 
admiration of his yalor. The Queen at length spoke to Lord Melbourne, 
who stood at her shoulder, and he bowed approval; on which she rose, 
leaned forward, and held out her hand to the old man, dispensing with 
his touching the crown. He was not hurt, and his self-quizzing on his 
misadventure was as brave as his behavior at the time. A foreigner in 
London gravely reported to his own countrymen, what he entirely 
believed on the word of a wag, that the Lords Rolle held their title on 
the condition of performing the feat at every coronation!" 

Another account observes that the Queen's "first impulse was to rise, 
and when afterwards Lord Rolle came again to do homage she said, 
*May I not get up and meet him?' and then rose from the throne and 
advanced down one or two of the steps to prevent his coming up— an 
act of graciousness and kindness which made a great sensation. It is in 
fact the remarkable union of naivete, kindness, and native good nature, 
with propriety and dignity, which makes her so admirable and so 
endearing to those about her, as she certainly is. I have been repeatedly 
told that they are all warmly attached to her, but that all feel the 
impossibility of for a moment losing sight of the respect which they 
owe her. She never ceases to be a queen, but is always the most charm- 
ing, cheerful, obliging, unaffected queen in the world." 

While the lords were doing homage, the Earl of Surrey, Treasurer 
of the Household, threw coronation medals in silver about the choir 
and lower galleries, which were scrambled for with great eagerness. A 
London alderman was thrown on the ground and rolled over in the 
struggle for one of these medals. It was feared that a battle-royal 
would ensue between some of the competitors. One of the sons of the 
Duke of Richmond secured thirteen of the medals, which he placed on 
his page's sash, in Oriental fashion. High-born ladies entered into the 
struggle as well as the sterner sex. 

At the conclusion of the homage the choir sang the anthem, "This 
is the day which the Lord hath made." The Queen received the two 
sceptres from the Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond; the drums beat, 
the trumpets sounded, and the Abbey rang with exultant shouts of 
"Grod save Queen Victoria! Long live Queen Victoria! May the Queen 
live forever !" The members of the House of Commons raised the first 
acclamation with nine cheers. Of the House of Commons as then con- 



116 THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN, 

stituted there survive only two members who are members of the 
Lower House at the present time— Mr. Villiers, and Mr. Christopher 
M. Talbot. 

The solemn ceremony of the coronation being now ended, the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury went to the altar. The Queen followed him, and 
having divested herself of the symbols of sovereignty, she knelt down 
before the altar. The Gospel and Epistle of the Communion Service 
having been read by two bishops, Her Majesty made her offering 
of bread and wine for the communion, in the paten and chalice. A 
second oblation was a purse of gold, which was placed on the altar. 
The Queen received the sacrament kneeling on the faldstool by the 
chair. Afterwards she put on her crown, and with her sceptres in her 
hands, took her seat again upon the throne. The Archbishop then pro- 
ceeded with the Communion Service, and pronounced the final blessing. 
The choir sang the noble anthem, "Hallelujah! for the Lord God omni- 
potent reigneth." 

The Queen then left the throne, and attended by two bishops and 
noblemen bearing the regalia and swords of state, passed into King 
Edward's Chapel, the organ playing. The Queen delivered the sceptre 
with the dove to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who laid it on the altar. 
She was then disrobed of her imperial robe of State, and arrayed in 
her royal robe of purple velvet by the Lord Chamberlain. The Arch- 
bishop placed the orb in her left hand. The gold spurs and St. Edward's 
staff were delivered by the noblemen who bore them to the Dean of 
Westminster, who placed them on the altar. The Queen then went to 
the west door of the Abbey wearing her crown, the sceptre with the 
cross being in her right, and the orb in her left hand. The swords and 
regalia were delivered to gentlemen who attended to receive them from 
the Jewel Office. It was nearly four o'clock when the royal procession 
passed through the nave at the conclusion of the ceremony. As the 
Queen emerged from the western entrance of the Abbey, there came 
from the thousands and tens of thousands of her subjects assembled in 
the vicinity thunders of acclamation and applause. Similar greetings 
awaited her on the whole of the homeward route; and the scene was 
even more impressive than in the morning, as Her Majesty now wore 
her crown, and the peers and peeresses their robes and their jeweled 
coronets. 

To the coronation succeeded the festivities. The Queen gave a grand 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 117 

banquet to one hundred guests, and the Duke of Wellington a ball at 
Apsley House which was attended by 2,000 persons. On the next day, 
and for three succeeding days (omitting Sunday), a fair was held in 
Hyde Park, this popular festive entertainment being visited by Her 
Majesty on the Friday. All the theatres in the metropolis, and nearly 
all other places of public amusement, were by the Queen's command 
opened gratuitously on the evening of the coronation. The peaceable 
and orderly behavior of hundreds of thousands of persons belonging to 
the middle and lower classes during the festivities extorted the admira- 
tion of foreign residents in London, and was much commented upon. 
The accidents and offenses reported were extraordinarily few. Enthusi- 
astic demonstrations took place throughout the country, and public 
dinners, feasts to the poor, processions and illuminations were the order 
of the day. Every town in England had its rejoicings; while in the 
chief continental cities British subjects assembled to celebrate the 
auspicious event. 

A parliamentary return showed that the entire expenses of the coro- 
nation amounted to £69,421 Is. lOd., of which sum nearly half was 
incurred by the fitting up of Westminster Abbey. The coronation 
expenses of George IV., which the Chancellor of the Exchequer esti- 
mated would not exceed £100,000, amounted to £238,000. 

There was quite a shower of honors and dignities in connection with 
the Queen's coronation; but the peers need not detain us, and out of the 
twenty-nine baronets created, only two will enjoy a permanent fame — 
namely, Edward Bulwer Lytton, as representing literature, and John 
Frederick William Herschel, as representing science. 

A Sovereign is exposed to annoyances from which private individ- 
uals are free. Mary, Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, and other female 
monarchs, attracted by their loveliness and other qualities an admira- 
tion which frequently proved embarrassing. We have already seen 
that this was the case with the Princess Victoria, and after she became 
queen she had both her admirers and assailants. She was subjected to 
many annoyances during the year succeeding her coronation. A Scotch 
youth traveled from the far North to Windsor that he might become 
personally acquainted with Her Majesty, whom he announced he was 
destined to espouse. His mental malady having become only too appar- 
ent, he was placed under restraint. Another individual succeeded in 
obtaining admission to the Chapel Royal, and planted himself opposite 



lis THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 

to tlie royal closet. After greatly disturbing the Queen by his rude and 
e^g'er gaze, he began to bow and kiss his hand to her, till he was 
remoTed by the proper authorities. Incoherent letters, the result of 
similar aberrations of reason, were addressed to the Queen in great 
numbers, and some of them found their way into the public journals. 

In the spring of 1839 Her Majesty was passing in her carriage 
through the triumphal arch facing the Duke of Wellington's mansion in 
Piccadilly, when a man rushed from the crowd and threw a letter into 
the coach with such violence that it struck the Queen upon the face. 
She remained quite calm, and indicated the offender, who was seized 
and conveyed to the police station, when it was found that he was the 
victim of a hallucination. Amongst other cases were those of Thomas 
Flowers, who was found in the Queen's apartments at Buckingham 
Palace; and Charles Willets, traveler to a commercial house in Basing- 
hall street. The conduct of the latter was especially offensive. As the 
Queen was taking an airing in Hyde Park in July, 1839, he followed her 
on horseback, and endeavored to get by the side of Her Majesty. Foiled 
in this, he kept crossing and recrossing in front of the Queen, and 
endeavored to attract her attention by placing his hand on his left 
breast, waving his hand, and otherwise acting in a most ridiculous 
manner. As nothing could be done with him, Colonel Cavendish gave 
him into custody. Being brought up at Bow Street, he was fined £5 for 
assaulting the Queen's outrider, and ordered to find bail, himself in 
£200, and two respectable householders in £100 each, to keep the peace 
for six months. 

When Queen Victoria announced to her Prime Minister that she 
had resolved to marry, Lord Melbourne replied, with paternal solici- 
tude: "Your Majesty will be much more comfortable, for a woman can- 
not stand alone for any time, in whatever position she may be." 

This was in the autumn of 1839, and the previous six months had 
probably been to the young Queen the most unhappy which she had 
ever experienced, owing to the strifes and jealousies of the two great 
political parties in the country. The atmosphere of reserve in which 
Her Majesty was compelled to live was very unnatural for a young girl, 
and oppressive to one of her open, candid disposition. Often she must 
have longed for the companionship of one with whom she could be her- 
self, unrestricted by regal considerations. 

There were many suitors for the hand of the fair occupant of the 




s 



lit 
a " 

in 

pi 



In 




mmm 




Monuments of Beaconsfield and Malcolm 

Westminster Abbey contains tiie aslies of many great men and women. Among these are Disraeli, 
Lord Beaconsfleld, wlio was twice Prime Minister of England, Sir John Malcolm, Lord Chatham, Sit 
Robert Peel and many others. 



THE YOUNG QUEEN'S REIGN. 121 

greatest throne in the world, among them the Prince of Orange; and it 
is a curious coincidence that a former Prince of Orange came a-wooing 
to the Princess Charlotte. After a period of indecision, that royal lady 
dismissed her suitor peremptorily, not, however, without going to the 
window to take a last look at him as he mounted his horse, which 
caused the ladies-in-waiting to think that the Princess was about to 
relent; but when, after gazing intently at his retreating figure, clad in 
a scarlet uniform surmounted by a hat with nodding green plumes, she 
exclaimed, "How like a radish he looks!" it was felt that his fate was 
finally settled. There are not any stories about Queen Victoria either 
receiving or dismissing suitors, the proposals for her hand being made 
officially and rejected in the same manner. The one love episode of her 
life was with her cousin. Prince Albert, second son of the reigning Duke 
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and all the world knows of its happy fulfilment. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

Prince Albert's Birthplace— His Earlj Life— His Engaging Qnalities— Princess Victoria's 
Attachment for Him— The Queen Proposes Marriage to Him — His Visits to England — 
The Qneen Informs the Council of Her Intended Marriage — Parliament Votes the 
Prince an Annuity of j^30,000— The Wedding Ceremony at the Chapel Royal St. James 
— ^A Ifation Rejoices. 

PKINCE ALBERT was born at the Rosenau, a summer residence 
of his father, situated about four miles from Coburg, on August 
26, 1819. The future husband of the Queen was therefore about 
a quarter of a year younger than herself. From his childhood 
he had given proof of an excellent disposition, and as he gained in years 
he became extremely intelligent and studious. It is easy to flatter a 
Prince^ and many tongues are always ready to perform the task. But 
it seems to be the absolute truth to say of Prince Albert that his nature 
was manly, sincere and affectionate ; that his life was blameless and dis- 
creet, and that his intellect and acquirements were remarkable, even at 
an early age. Added to this he was graced with physical beauty and 
pleasing manners; so that in more ways than one he attracted the atten- 
tion of many observers. 

In fact, some of his admirers seemed to think that he was almost too 
much of a seraph for this mundane sphere; but by the time he was six 
years old he showed that he was pretty much like other boys, and in a 
naive little diary which he kept there occur these two somewhat startling 
items : "9th April. I got up well and happy ; afterwards I had a fight 
with my brother." "10th April. I had another fight with my brother: 
that was not right." The young Princes were active and courageous, but 
they were also very studious. Albert's grandmamma Coburg led him 
to take an interest in his cousin, the Princess Victoria, and to corre- 
spond with her at an early date. The Duchess was the mother of Prince 
Leopold and the Duchess of Kent. She died when Prince Albert was 
twelve years old. The young Prince's training was very thorough, 
embracing tuition in various branches of science, languages, music, litera- 
tttre, ethics and politics. He had also a fine moral and physical training, 
go that as he advanced towards manhood he was upright both in mind 

132 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 123 

and body. A programme of studies which he drew up for himself when 
in his fourteenth year is of a most comprehensive and useful character. 
His mind was further enlarged by travel, and after tours in Germany, 
Austria and Holland, he visited England, spending some time with the 
Duchess of Kent and his cousin at Kensington Palace. At the close of 
his university career at Bonn, Prince Albert traveled with Baron Stock- 
mar in Switzerland and Italy. The King of the Belgians had always 
favored a marriage between the cousins Victoria and Albert, but King 
William IV. had strongly discouraged it. 

However, the Princess Victoria repeatedly declared that she would 
marry nobody else (though five suitors were found for her), and when 
she became Quieen she of course had her right to choose without let or 
hindrance. 

In his home at Erenburg, in the spring of 1839, Prince Albert was 
agreeably surprised, on entering his apartments after a long journey, to 
receive a smiling welcome from the features of his fair cousin, the young 
Queen of England. It appears that she had sent her portrait, executed 
by Chalon, for his acceptance, and it was privately placed, by her desire, 
so that it should be the first object to meet his view on his return. 

The two brothers, Ernest and Albert, again visited England in the 
ensuing October, this being the third occasion on which they had done 
so. They reached Buckingham Palace on the 10th, and were conveyed 
thence in the royal carriages to Windsor Castle. The Queen appears to 
have been still more impressed than before with her younger cousin, and 
in writing to her uncle Leopold she remarked : "Albert's beauty is most 
striking, and he is most amiable and unaffected; in short, very fascinat- 
ing." Then, with maidenly reserve, as though she had been too com- 
municative, she hastened to add : "The young men are hotJi amiable, and 
delightful companions, and I am glad to have them here." 

The manner of life at Windsor during the stay of the Princes is thus 
described : "The Queen breakfasted at this time in her own room ; they 
afterwards paid her a visit there; and at two o'clock had luncheon with 
her and the Duchess of Kent. In the afternoon they all rode — the Queen 
and the Duchess and the two Princes, with Lord Melbourne and most of 
the ladies and gentlemen in attendance, forming a large cavalcade. There 
was a great dinner in the evening, with a dance after it three times a 
week." The Queen now put off the monarch, and was the woman alone. 
She danced with Prince Albert, and showed him many attentions which 



124 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

she could never show to others. "At one of the Castle balls, just before 
the Queen declared her engagement with her loyal cousin to her Coundl, 
she presented Ills Serene Highness with her bouquet. This flattering in- - 
dication of her favor might have involved a less quick-witt«d lover in an 
awkward dilemma, foa? his uniform jacket was fastened up to the chin, 
after the Prussian fashion, and offered no button-hole wherein to place 
the precious gift. But the Prince, in the very spirit of Sir Walter Ral - 
eigh, seized a pen knife, and immediately slit an aperture in his dress next 
his heart, and there triumphantly deposited the royal flowers." 

Koyal courtships naturally excite curiosity, for those undistin- 
guished in position are eager to learn whether love is after all the "level- 
ler" he is represented. Her Majesty's experience proved that he is. One 
report says that the Queen endeavored to encourage her lover by asking 
him how he liked England, to which he responded "Very much." ¥ext 
day the query was repeated, and the same answer was returned. But on 
the third occasion, when the maiden-monarch, with downcast eyes and 
tell-tale blushes, asked "If he would like to live in England?" he rose to 
the occasion. Emboldened by the Queen's demeanor, it is stated that 
"on this hint he spoke" of feelings that he had treasured up in strictest 
secrecy since his first visit to England ; having, with that sensitive deli- 
cacy which is the inseparable companion of true love, waited for some en- 
couraging token before he ventured to offer his homage to the "bright 
particular star" of his devotions. 

Another account says that Her Majesty inquired of His Serene High- 
ness whether his visit to this country had been agreeable to him? — 
whether he liked England? And on the answer being given, "Exceeding- 
ly," "Then," added the Queen, "it depends on you to make it your home." 
All this is very pretty and very pleasant, but as a matter of fact the 
Queen actually proposed to the Prince, and was necessitated to do so 
from the circumstances of her position. We have it on her own admis- 
sion that she directly made the proposal. Some days after she had done 
so she saw the Duchess of Gloucester in London, and told her that she 
was to make her declaration the next day. The Duchess asked her if 
it was not a nervous thing to do. She said, "Yes ; but I did a much more 
nervous thing a little while ago." "What was that?" "I proposed to 
Prince Albert." 

The engagement was made on the 15th of October. Prince Albert had 
been out hnntins^ with his brother, and returned to the Castle about noon. 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 125 

Half an hour afterwards he received a summons from the Queen, and 
went to her room, finding her alone. After a few minutes' convei^satiou 
O'U other subjects, the Queen told him why she had sent for him, and the 
whole story of mutual love was once more quickly told. "Though as 
Queen," observes one writer, "she offered the Prince her coveted hand- 
that hand which had held the sceptre of sceptres, and which princes and 
peers and representatives of the highest powers on earth had kissed in 
homage— it was only as a poor little woman's weak hand, which needed to 
be upheld and guided in good works by a stronger, firmer hand; and her 
head, when she laid it on her chosen husband's shoulder, had not the feel 
of the crown on it. Indeed, she seems to have felt that his love was her 
real coronation, his faith her consecration." 

She was not long in communicating the joyful news to her dear friend, 
Baron Stockmar. It came with some little surprise upon him, for, shortly 
before, the Queen had assured him that she did not intend to change her 
unmarried state for a long period. And now she wrote : "I do feel so 
guilty I know not how to begin my letter; but I think the news it will 
contain will be sufficient to ensure your forgiveness. Albert has com- 
pletely won my heart, and all was settled between us this morning. I 
feel certain he will make me happy. I wish I could feel as certain 
of my making him happy." 

The Prince himself, writing to his affectionate grandmother of Gotha, 
said : "The Queen sent for me alone to her room the other day, and de- 
clared to me, in a genuine outburst of affection, that I had gained her 
whole heart, and would make her intensely happy if I would make her 
the sacrifice of sharing her life with her, for she said she looked on it 
as a sacrifice; the only thing which troubled her was that she did not 
think she was worthy of me. The joyous openness with which she told 
me this enchanted me, and I was quite carried away by it." 

Efer Majesty appears to have repeatedly dwelt on the Prince's sac- 
rifices. In one of the typical entries in her Journal we read : "How I 
will strive to make Albert feel as little as possible the great sacrifice he 
has made! I told him it ivas a great sacrifice on his part, but he would 
not allow it." Although many would have regarded the Prince as only 
to be envied, in one sense the Queen was quite right. She was not called 
upon to surrender anything, while she received the love and devoted care 
of a good husband. He, on the other hand, left his native home to dwell 
amongst strangers, with whom he had yet to make his way. He expatri- 



126 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

ated himself from Germany and from his much-loved brother, and took 
upon himself a portion of the burdens of the English Sovereign, without 
taking equal rank with her in the rights and privileges of sovereignty. 

But the young couple were very happy. They had many tastes and 
sympathies in common. The Prince had considerable facility as an art- 
ist, and still more as a composer. The music he composed to the songs 
written by his brother was beyond the average in sweetness of melody, 
and some of his sacred compositions, notably the tune "Gotha," were of 
a high order, and found their way into the psalmodies. He also sang well 
and played with skill. During his stay at Windsor Castle Her Majesty 
frequently accompanied him on the pianoforte, and at a later period 
they often sang together the admired productions of Rossini, Auber, 
Balfe, and Moore. Before he left the Castle, his engagement being then 
known, the Prince drew a pencil portrait of himself, which he presented 
to the Duchess of Kent. Both he and his brother were exceedingly fond 
of outdoor and field sports of all kinds. 

Of course Greville has something to say about tlie royal engagement, 
and, as is frequently the case, his remarks are not of the pleasantest 
character. According to his account, Her Majesty treated the Prime 
Minister rather slightingly. "The Queen," he says, "settled everything 
about her marriage herself, and without consulting Melbourne at all on 
the subject — not even communicating to him her intentions. The re- 
ports were already rife^ while he was in ignorance; and at last he spoke 
to her : told her that he could not be ignorant of the reports, nor could 
she; that he did not presume to inquire what her intentions were; but 
that it was his duty to tell her that if she had any, it wasi necessary her 
Ministers should be apprised of them. She said she had nothing to tell 
him; and about a fortnight afterwards she informed him that the whole 
thing was settled : a curious exhibition of her independence, and explains 
the apprehensions which Lady Cowper has recently expressed to me of 
the serious consequences which her determined character is likely to pro- 
duce. If she has already shaken off her dependence on ^lelbourne, and 
begins to fly with her own wings, what will she not do when she is older, 
and has to deal with Ministers whom she does not care for, or whom she 
dislikes?" 

Now, this does not quite accurately represent what really occurred. 
There was no soreness felt by Melbourne, who was as kind as ever when 
the Queen, feeling that the time had come when she could confide in him, 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 127 

told him of lier intentions. This she did on the 14th of October, the day 
before the engagement was made. She said she had made her choice, 
whereupon Melbourne expressed his great satisfaction, and added (as it 
is stated in the Queen's Journal) ; "I think it will be very well received, 
for I hear that there is an anxiety now that it should be, and I am very 
glad of it." Then he said, in a paternal tone : "You will be much more 
comfortable, for a woman cannot stand alone for any time in Avhatever 
position she may be." 

The King of the Belgians took a special interest in the engagement. 
Before he was aware of its conclusion he had written to the Queen as fol- 
lows concerning his nephews : "I am sure you will like them the more 
the longer you see them. They are young men of merit, and without that 
puppy-like affectation w^hich is so often found with young gentlemen of 
rank; and though remarkably well-informed, they are very free from 
pedantry. Albert is a very agreeable companion. His manners are so 
quiet and harmonious that one likes to have him near one's self. I al- 
ways found him so when I had him with me, and I think his travels have 
still further improved him. He is full of talent and fun, and draws 
cleverly." Then comes a very direct hint in the King's letter : "I trust 
they will enliven your sejour in the old castle, and may Albert be able to 
strew roses without thorns in the pathway of life of our good Victoria. 
He is well qualified to do so." 

A letter from the Queen to the King crossed this one. "My dearest 
uncle," she wrote, "this letter will I am sure give you pleasure, for you 
have always shown and taken so warm an interest in all that concerns 
me. My mind is quite made up, acd I told Albert this morning of it. 
The warm affection he showed me at learning this gave me great pleasure. 
He seems perfection, and I think I have the prospect of very great happi- 
ness before me. I love him more than I can say, and shall do everything 
in my power to render this sacrifice (for such in my opinion it is) as 
small as I can. It is absolutely necessary that this determination of 
mine should be known to no one but yourself and uncle Ernest, until after 
the meeting of Parliament, as it would be considered otherwise neglect- 
ful on my part not to have assembled Parliament at once to inform them 
of it." The writer added : "Lord Melbourne has acted in this business, 
as he has always done towards me, with the greatest kindness and affec- 
tion. We also think it better — and Albert quite approves of it — ^that we 



138 , THE QUEEN A BRIDE. >■ ' " 

should be married very soon after Parliament meets, about the begin- 
ning of February." 

King Leopold sent a very affectionate reply from Wiesbaden:; "My 
dearest Victoria, nothing could have given me greater pleasure than your 
dear letter. I had, when I learnt your decision, almost the feeling of old 
Simeon — 'Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' Your choice 
has been for these last years my conviction of what might and would be 
best for your happiness; and just because I was convinced of it, and knew 
how strangely fate often changes what one tries to bring about as being 
the best plan one could fix upon — the maximum of a good arrangement 
— I feared that it would not happen." 

We have glimpses of the royal lovers in their correspondence with 
each other and with their friends and relatives. Thus, Prince Albert, 
writing to Baron Stockmar, remarks: "An individuality, a character 
which shall win the respect, the love, and the confidence of the Queen and 
of the nation, must be the gToundwork of my position. If, therefore, 1 
prove a 'noble' Prince in the true sense of the word, as you call upon me 
to be, wise and prudent conduct will become easier to me, and its results 
more rich in blessings." But his new position brought anxieties with it. 
"With the exception of my relation to her (the Queen)," he wrote to his 
stepmother, "my future position will have its dark sides, and the sky will 
not always be blue and unclouded. But life has its thorns in every posi- 
tion, and the consciousness of having used one's powers and endeavors 
for an object so great as that of promoting the good of so many, will 
surely be sufficient to support me." 

The Princes Ernest and Albert remained for a month at Windsor, and 
we hear of a beautiful emerald serpent ring which the latter presented 
to his ladylove. In the bracing November weather the engaged couple 
were present at a review, in the Home Park, of the battalion of the Rifle 
Brigade quartered at Windsor. Her Majesty has thus described this 
interesting scene : "At ten minutes to twelve I set off in my Windsor 
uniform and cap, on my old charger Leopold, with my beloved Albert, 
looking so handsome in his uniform, on my right, and Sir John Macdon- 
ald, the xldjutant-General, on my left, Colonel Grey and Colonel We- 
myss preceding me, a guard of honor, my other gentlemen, my cousin's 
gentlemen, Lady Caroline Barrington, &c., for the gTound. A horrid 
day : cold, dreadfully blowy, and, in addition, raining hard when we had 
been out a few minutes. It, however, ceased when we came to the ground. 




Eager for News op the British-Boer War 

Every defeat, every unsuccessful skirmish, the loss or wounding of any brave soldier 
was personal to Queen Victoria. 




Princess Victoria in 1830 

(From " '^'mting made from Life.) 




JLiOBD KOBEBTS 

One of the Greatest Generals of the Victorian Age, born in Cawnpore, 
India, September 30, 1832; Commissioned Second Lieutenant Bengal Ar- 
tillery December 12, 1851; Made Lieutenant June 3, 1857; Married Nora 
Henrietta Bews May 17, 1859; Made Captain November 12, 1860; Brevet 
Major November 13, 1860; Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, Bengal, August 15, 
1868; Brevet Colonel at Kuram Jan. 30, 1875; Major Gen. Cabul field force, 
December 31, 1878; Baronet, 1881; Lieutenant General Commander in 
India July 26, 1883; General Commander in Ireland November 28, 1890; 
Created Baron, 1892; Made Field Marshal May 25, 1895; Command in 
Africa December 15, 1899; Commander-in-Chief September 30, 1900; Made 
Earl January 2, 1901. 




The Makquis of Salisburx— Lord Cecil. 

Premier of England. 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 133 

I rode alone down the ranks, and then took my place as usual, with dear- 
est Albert on my right, and Sir John Macdonald on my left, and saw the 
troops march past. They afterwards manoeuvered. The Kifles looked 
beautiful. It was piercingly cold, and I had my cape on, which dearest 
Albert settled comfortably for me. He was so cold, being en grande ten- 
tie^ with high boots. We cantered home again, and went in to show our- 
selves to poor Ernest, who had seen all from a window." 

The Princes returned to the Continent on the 14th of November. Af- 
ter so many happy weeks the Queen felt her loneliness very much, and 
she spent a good deal of her time in playing over the musical compositions 
which she and her lover had enjoyed together. She had also another re- 
minder of him in the shape of a beautiful miniature, which she wore in 
a bracelet on her arm when she subsequently announced her intended 
marriage to the Privy Council. Writing to his aunt, the Duchess of 
Kent, the Prince observed : "What you say about my poor little bride 
sitting all alone in her room, silent and sad, has touched me to the heart. 
Oh, that I might fly to her side to cheer her !" The Queen herself after- 
wards wrote : "For the ^poor little bride' there was no lack of those sweet 
words, touched with the grateful humility of a manly love, to receive 
which was a precious foretaste to her of the happiness of the years to 
come." The Prince wrote to his bride: "That I am the object of so 
much love and devotion often comes over me as something I can hardly 
realize. My prevailing feeling is, what am I that such happiness should 
be mine? For excess of happiness it is for me to know that I am so dear 
to you." And again, alluding to his grandmother's regret at the im- 
pending separation from her: "Still she hopes, what I am convinced 
will be the case, that I may find in you, my dear Victoria, all the happi- 
ness I could possibly desire. And so I shall, I can truly tell her for her 
comfort." Yet once more, writing from "dear old Coburg," he says: 
"How often are my thoughts with you ! The hours I was privileged to 
pass with you in your dear little room are the radiant points of my life, 
and I cannot even yet clearly picture to myself that I am indeed to be so 
happy as to be always aear you, always your protector." Telling the 
Queen that in an hour he was to take the sacrament in the church at Co- 
burg, he added, with mingled affection and solemnity: "God will not 
take it amiss if in that serious act, even at the altar, I think of you, for I 
will pray to Him for you and for your soul's health, and He will not re- 
fuse us His blessing." 



134 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

The Queen had more than one trying ordeal before her. She left 
Windsor with the Duchess of Kent on the 20tli of November for Buck- 
ingham Palace, and immediately summoned a Council for the 23d. It 
was held in the bow-room of the palace, on the ground floor. Amongst 
those assembled was the venerable Duke of Wellington, respecting whom 
and the Sovereign an amusing anecdote had just been current. It was 
gravely reported that in an interview with Her Majesty Lord Melbourne 
had represented to the Sovereign the advisability of her marriage, and 
had begged her to say whether there was any person for whom she enter- 
tained a preference. Her Majesty deigned to acknowledge that there 
was one man for whom she could conceive a regard, and that was Arthur, 
Duke of Wellington ! If this anecdote were as true as it is good, it bore 
testimony to the sly humor of the Queen. 

Her task before the Council was an embarrassing one, but her cour- 
age, as she tells us, was inspired by the sight of the Prince's picture in her 
bracelet. "Precisely at two I went in," writes the Queen in her Journal. 
"The room was full, but I hardly knew who was there. Lord Melbourne 
I saw looking kindly at me with tears in his eyes, but he was not near me. 
I then read my short declaration. I felt my hands shook, but I did not 
make one mistake. I felt most happy and thankful when it was over. 
Lord Lansdowne then rose, and in the name of the Privy Council asked 
that this most gracious and most welcome communication might be print- 
ed. I then left the room, the whole thing not lasting above two or three 
minutes. The Duke of Cambridge came into the small library where I 
was standing and wished me joy." 

The Queen's declaration to her Council was as follows: "I have 
caused you to be summoned at the present time in order that I may ac- 
quaint you with my resolution in a matter which deeply concerns the 
welfare of my people and the happiness of my future life. It is my inten- 
tion to ally myself in marriage with the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg 
and Gotha. Deeply impressed with the solemnity of the engagement 
which I am about to contract, I have not come to this decision without 
mature consideration, nor without feeling a strong assurance that with 
the blessing of Almighty God, it will at once secure my domestic felicity 
and serve the interests of my country. I have thought fit to make known 
this resolution to you at the earliest period, in order that you may be 
apprised of a matter so highly important to me and to my kingdom, and 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 135 

which I persuade myself, will be most acceptable to all my loving sub- 
jects." 

In her new found bliss as an affianced bride, and while receiving and 
exchanging daily warm assurances of mutual affection, the Queen did 
not forget her subjects, and especially those who were the most unfortu- 
nate of her own sex. Only on the day before she opened Parliament she 
sent a donation of £50 to the Manor Hall Refuge for Destitute Females 
released from prison, signifying at the same time, in a gracious communi* 
cation to Mrs. Fry— that noble friend of the outcast and the degraded— 
her intention of always supporting the above-mentioned benevolent and 
truly serviceable institution. 

Parliament was opened by the Queen in person on the 16th of Janu- 
ary, 1840. It had been rumored that the recent death of Her Majesty's 
aunt, the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, would prevent the Queen from 
attending the House of Lords, but this proved not to be the case. The 
Queen had consulted her royal aunts, the Princess Augusta and the 
Duchess of Gloucester, on the subject, and they both advised her to pur- 
sue the course of performing her duty to the Senate. "You are, my dear, 
the highest public functionary," said the Princess Augnista, "and must not 
permit your private respect to your family to interfere with the proper 
discharge of your duties to your empire." In her course to the Houses 
of Parliament the Queen was received with fervent demonstrations of 
loyalty, and the knowledge of the happy errand she was upon lent addi- 
tional interest to her progress on this occasion. The marriage that was 
soon to be solemnized touched the people deeply for they knew it was 
one of affection, and not one "arranged" merely for purposes of State. 

The first part of Her Majesty's speech, which was delivered with some 
amount of trepidation, was as follovfs: "Since you were last assem- 
bled I have declared my intention of allying myself in marriage with the 
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. I humbly implore that the 
Divine blessing may prosper this union, and render it conducive to the 
interests of my people, as well as to my own domestic happiness ; and it 
will be to me a source of the most lively satisfaction to find the resolution 
I have taken approved by my Parliament. The constant proofs which 
I have received of your attachment to my person and family, persuade 
me that you will enable me to provide for such an establishment as may 
appear suitable to the rank of the Prince and the dignity of the Crown." 

A bill for the naturalization of Prince Albert was at once passed 



136 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

through, both Houses, and the Queen subsequently conferred, upon her 
future husband the title of "His Royal Highness/' as well as the rank 
of a Field Marshal in the British army. The question of the Prince's 
annuity created a good deal of discussion in the House of Commons on 
the 27th of January. Lord John Russell proposed an annual sum of 
£50,000, but this was opposed by Mr. Joseph Hume on the ground of 
economy. He sought to reduce the amount to £21,000, and caused much 
laughter by a remark to the effect that "the noble lord must know 
the danger of setting a young man down in London with so much money 
in his pocket." The amendment was negatived by 305 to thirty-eight; 
but another amendment, proposed by Colonel Sibthorp, reducing the 
sum to £30,000, was carried by 262 to 158. A curious rumor had got 
afloat that Her Majesty had incurred debts beyond the amount of her 
allowance; and the Government was asked if such were the fact, and 
also whether Parliament was to be called upon to contribute towards 
the expenses of the approaching royal nuptials. Lord John Russell 
stated that both reports were entirely unfounded. With regard to the 
pecuniary position of Prince Albert, it may be stated, on a Coburg au- 
thority, that when he attained his majority he was put in possession 
of the property bequeathed to him by his mother, which produced a reve- 
nue of 28,000 florins (about £2,400) per annum. When it was decided 
that he should leave the country to marry Queen Victoria, the Prince 
granted certain pensions to persons attached to his household, and then 
transferred the estate to his elder brother. 

The royal marriage was fixed for the 10th of February, and on the 
afternoon of the 8th Prince Albert arrived at Buckingham, Palace, ac- 
companied by his father and elder brother. The Prince brought as a 
wedding gift to his bride a beautiful sapphire and diamond brooch; 
and Her Majesty in return presented the Prince with the Star and Badge 
of the Garter, and the Garter itself, set in diamonds. The Queen had 
been exceedingly gratified by the high tributes paid to the personal char- 
acter of Prince Albert by men of all parties. Sir Robert Peel, the leader 
of the Opposition in the House of Commons, bad especially spoken in 
generous terms, and felicitated the Sovereign and the country upon the 
forthcoming auspicious union. 

The question of the precedence of Prinea Albert, liowevej!, caused a 
great deal of difficulty, and much annoyance to the Queen. Greville has 
told the inner and secret history of the struggle. Writing in his diary 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 137 

under the date of February 4th, he says : "On Friday the Cabinet agreed 
to give up the precedence over the Prince of Wales ; but to a question of 
Bpougham^s, the Lord Chancellor said he had no other concession to 
offer. It was then agreed that the discussion should be taken on IVionday. 
On Saturday, Clarendon spoke to Melbourne himself, and urged him to 
consider seriously the inconvenience of a battle on this point, and pre- 
vailed upon him to go to the Duke of Wellington and talk it over with 
him. He wrote to the Duke, who immediately agreed to receive him. 
Then he went to x\psley House, and they had an hour's conversation. 
Melbourne found him with one of his very stiffest crotchets in his head, 
determined only to give the Prince precedence after the royal family, 
and all he could get from him was that it would be unjust to do more. 
All argument was unavailing, and he left him on Saturday evening with- 
out having been able to make any impression on him, or to move him by 
a representation of the Queen's feelings to make concessions to meet 
those the Government were prepared to make ; for the Queen would have 
been content to accept precedence for her life, and saving the rights of 
the Prince of Wales. This, however, they would not consent to ; and so 
determined were they to carry their point, that they made a grand whip 
up, and brought Lord Clarendon all the way from Grimsthorpe to vote 
upon it. Under these circumstances the Government resolved to with- 
draw the clause, and they did so, thus leaving the Prince without any 
specific place assigned by Parliament, and it remains with the Queen 
to do what she can for him, or for courtesy, tacit consent, and deference 
for her Consort, to give him the precedence virtually which the House 
of Lords refuses to bestow formally. 

"I think the Duke of Wellington has acted strangely in this matter, 
and the Conservatives generally very unwisely. Volentihus non fit in- 
juria^ and the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, who alone w^ere con- 
cerned, had consented to the Prince's precedence. The King of Hanover, 
it seems, was never applied to, because they knew he w^ould have refused ; 
and they did not deem his consent necessary. There is no great sympathy 
for the lucky Coburgs in this country, but there is still less for King 
Ernest, and it will have all the effect of being a slight to the Queen out 
of a desire to gratify him. There certainly was not room for much more 
dislike in her mind of the Tories; but it was useless to give the Prince 
so ungracious and uncordial a reception, and to render him as inimical 
to them as she already is. As an abstract question, I think his prece- 



138 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

dence unnecessary; but under all the circumstances it would have been 
expedient and not unjust to grant it." 

The precedence controversy became so warm that Greville looked up 
the authorities and the ancient practice on the subject. He came to the 
conclusion that the Queen had power to grant the Prince precedence 
everywhere but in Parliament and in Council, and on the whole he con- 
sidered that her husband ought to have precedence. He accordingly 
wrote a pamphlet on the subject, which was very favorably regarded by 
the Queen. In the end the Queen settled the precedence problem, so far 
as England was concerned, by declaring it to be her royal will and pleas- 
ure, under her sign-manual, that her husband should enjoy place, pre-emi- 
nence, and precedence next to Her Majesty. 

Sunday, the 9th of February, Prince Albert spent in paying visits 
to the various members of the Koyal Family, remaining for some time 
with the Queen Dowager and the Princess Augusta. His frank and manly 
bearing impressed all the Queen's relatives in his favor. So deeply did 
his religion enter into everything, tingeing all with seriousness, though 
not with gloom, that only a very short time before the wedding ceremony 
he wrote to the venerable Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, who had 
enacted the part of a second mother to him, as follows : "In less than 
three hours I shall stand at the altar with my dear bride. In these sol- 
emn moments I must once more ask your blessing, which I am well as- 
sured I shall receive, and which will be my safeguard and future joy. 
I must end. God help me, or rather God be my stay !" He could not, 
even in the prospect of so much happiness with his wife, lose sight of the 
fact that as a stranger in the land he would have much to live down, 
and would have as it were to make a position for himself in the affections 
of the English people. 

An anecdote of a different but interesting kind is told of the Queen 
and her approaching wedding. It is said that the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury waited upon Her Majesty, and inquired if it were her wish that any 
alteration should be made in that portion of the Service appointed in 
the Liturgy for the solemnization of matrimony which included the 
promise of "obedience" — a curious promise for the Sovereign of Great 
Britain to make to her newly naturalized subject Prince Albert, who 
had just taken the oath to her as his liege lady. The Queen, according 
to the report, replied that "it was her wish to be marrted in all respects 
like any other woman, according to the revered usages of the Church of 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 139 

England, and that, though, not as a queeUf as a woman she was ready to 
promise all things contained in that portion of the Liturgy." 

Many were the ejaculations of "God bless her!" which went up from 
the citizens of London on the morning of the 10th of February as they 
thought of the royal bride. The wedding ceremony was one of unusual 
interest, for more than a century had elapsed since the nuptials of a 
reigning Queen of E'ngland had been celebrated, besides which the youth 
and grace of Victoria had touched all loyal hearts. At an early hour 
a dense throng of persons assembled in front of Buckingham Palace, 
from whence the procession was to set out for St. James', where the mar- 
riage was to be solemnized. At a quarter before twelve the bridegroom's 
procession issued forth, consisting of Prince Albert, his father, the Duke 
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, his brother Prince Ernest, and their suites. At 
ten minutes past twelve the signal was given for the departure of the 
Queen. Accompanied by the Duchess of Kent, and attended by the 
Duchess of Sutherland, Her Majesty seated herself in her full-dress car- 
riage. For the benefit of lady readers it may be stated that the Queen 
wore on her head a wreath of orange blossoms and a veil of Honiton lace, 
with a necklace and earrings of diamonds. Her dress was of white satin, 
with a very deep trimming of Honiton lace, in design similar to that of 
the veil. The body and sleeves were richly trimmed with the same ma- 
terial, to correspond. The train, which was of white satin, was trimmed 
with orange blossoms. The cost of the lace alone on the Queen's dress 
was £1,000. The satin was manufactured in Spitalflelds, and the lace 
at a village near Honiton. More than two hundred persons were em- 
ployed upon the latter for a period of eight months, and as the lace trade 
of Honiton had seriously declined, all these persons would have been 
destitute during the winter had it not been for the Queen's express 
order that the lace should be manufactured by them. 

As Her Majesty entered her carriage she was extremely pale and 
agitated, but the cheers of the people quickened her spirits, and brought 
the blush to her cheeks and the smiles to her eyes. She bowed repeatedly 
in response to the joyous acclamations which greeted her on every side 
as the carriage moved off. All the way to St. James' Palace nothing was 
to be heard but enthusiastic cheering, and nothing to be seen but the 
waving of brides' favors and snow-white handkerchiefs. 

At St. James', the colonnade through which the procession passed 
to the chapel was excellently arranged and fitted up, rows of specta- 



140 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

tors being accommodated on each side. A host of celebrities, and of 
young and fashionable women, assembled there as early as ten o^clock. 
Smiles were exchanged as the band marched into the court, playing the 
appropriate air, "Haste to the wedding." Many of the grand function- 
aries of State, and favored persons invited to view the nuptial ceremony, 
passed through the colonnade to the Chapel Koyal. The first arrival of 
interest was the Duke of Sutherland, escorting his two beautiful daugh- 
ters, the Ladies Elizabeth and Evelyn Leveson Gower, to their seats in the 
chapel. They were said to be the prettiest girls there, and were elegantly 
dressed in trains of the palest pink, trimmed all round with blush roses. 
The Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury next gravely 
passed by, followed by the Duke of Somerset and his handsome Duchess. 
Then came the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of Carlisle and one of his 
many beautiful daughters; the Duke of Wellington in his uniform as a 
Field Marshal, and with his truncheon; and the Marquis of Anglesey 
in }ns splendid uniform as colonel of the 7th Hussars, covered with 
Orders, and wearing conspicuous bridal favors. The hero of Waterloo, 
who looked infirm, and did not move with his usual alacrity, was the 
only individual the spectators stood up to honor and to cheer. He bowed 
with great dignity in return, but appeared to be sinking under the 
weight of his years and his honors. The ]Baroness Lehzen, the Queen's 
governess and friend, attracted considerable attention. She was a lady 
with dark eyes and hair, and a complexion white as marble, which 
appeared all the whiter by contrast with her black velvet Spanish hat, 
which was surmounted by a white plume. Her countenance exhibited 
great energy and talent. 

At twenty minutes past twelve a flourish of trumpets and drums gave 
notice of the approach of the royal bridegroom, and shortly afterwards 
the band played the triumphant sitrains of "See the conquering hero 
comes !" The prince wore a Field Marshal's uniform with the star and 
ribbon of the Garter, and the bridal favors on his shoulders heightened 
his picturesque appearance. One who stood near him thus made notes 
of his person : "Prince Albert is most prepossessing. His features are 
regular; his hair pale auburn, of silken glossy quality; eyebrows well 
defined and thickly set; eyes blue and lively; nosewell proportioned, hand- 
some mouth, teeth perfectly beautiful, small mustachios, and downy 
complexion. He greatly resembles the Queen, save that he is of a lighter 
complexion; still, he looks as though neither care nor sorrow had ever 




Sir John A. Macdonald 

The Great Canadian Statesman of the Victorian Era, 




Alfred Tenistyson— The Victoriajst Poet 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 143 

ruffled or cast a cloud over his placid and reflective brow. There is an 
unmistakable air of refinement and rectitude about him, and every year 
will add intellectual and manly beauty to his very interesting face and 
form." 

Contemporary accounts state that as the Prince moved along he was 
greeted with loud clapping of hands from the men, and enthusiastic 
waving of handkerchiefs from the assembled ladies. In his hand he 
carried a Bible bound in green velvet. Over his shoulders was hung the 
collar of the Garter surmounted by two white rosettes. On his left 
knee was the Garter itself, which was of the most costly workmanghip, 
and literally covered with diamonds. He had suffered much from sea- 
sickness in coming over from Germany, but the effects of this had passed 
away, and his graceful and engaging manners and pensive looks won 
golden opinions from the fair spectators. The Prince's father and 
brother also received a cordial welcome, with which they were apparently 
much pleased. When the bridegroom's procession reached the chapel, 
the drums and trumpets filed off without the door, and the procession 
advancing, His Royal Highness was conducted to the seat provided for 
him on the left hand of the altar. Here he was engaged for some time in 
conversation with the Queen Dowager. 

At half-past twelve the drums and trumpets sounded the National 
Anthem as a prelude to the arrival of the bride. Every person rose as 
the doors were again opened, and the royal procession came in with sol- 
emn steps and slow. The coup d'oeil was now magnificent, as floods of 
sunshine streamed through the windows upon the many gorgeous cos- 
tumes in which the royal and distinguished persons who appeared in the 
procession were attired. The Princesses attracted much attention. 
First came the Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, still very beauti- 
ful, and dressed in lily-white satin; then the Princess Augusta of Cam- 
bridge, in pale blue, with blush roses round her train; next the Duchess 
of Cambridge, in white velvet, leading by the hand the lovely little 
Princess Mary, whO' was dressed in white satin and swansdown, the 
mother all animation and smiles at the applause which greeted her child ; 
and lastly the Duchess of Kent, regal in stature and dignity, and dressed 
in white and silver with blue velvet train. The Duke of Cambridge and 
the Duke of Sussex succeeded, the latter "looking blithe and full of merry 
conceits." One account says that the Duchess of Kent appeared somewhat 



144 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

disconsolate and distressed, and tliat there were traces of tears upon her 
coiintenance. 

Immediately after Lord Melbourne, who carried the sword of State, 
came the Queen herself, the central figure, and one of universal interest. 
She wore a chaplet of orange-blossoms on her head, and her bridal veil 
was fastened to the back of her head with a small brilliant pin. She 
had round her neck the collar of the Garter, but wore no other ornaments 
or jewels. She looked anxious and excited, and with difflculty restrained 
her agitated feelings. Her Majesty's train was borne by twelve unmar- 
ried ladies, the daughters of well-known peers. These noble demoiselles 
were the Ladies Adelaide Paget, Sarah Frederica Caroline Villiers, 
Frances Elizabeth Cowper, Elizabeth West, Mary Augusta Frederica 
Grimston, Eleanora Caroline Paget, Caroline Amelia Gordon Lennox, 
Elizabeth Anne Georgiana Dorothea Howard, Ida Hay, Catherine Lucy 
Wilhelmina Stanhope, Jane Harriet Bouverie and Mary Charlotte How- 
ard. The bridesmaids, like their royal mistress, were attired in white. 
Their dresses were composed of delicate net, trimmed with festoons of 
white roses over slips of rich gros de Naples, with garlands of white roses 
over the head. The Duchess of Sutherland walked next to the Queen, and 
the ladies of the bedchamber and the maids of honor closed the bride's 
procession. 

The Chapel Koyal was specially prepared and decorated for the cere- 
mony. The altar and liaut pas had a splendid appearance, the whole 
being lined with crimson velvet. The wall above the communion-table was 
hung with rich festoons of crimson velvet edged with gold lace. The 
Gothic pillars supporting the galleries were gilt, as were the moldings of 
the oaken panels, and the Gothic railing round the communion- 
table. The communion-table itself was covered with a rich pro- 
fusion of gold plate. On one side was a stool for the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and on the other one for the Bishop 
of London. On the left-hand side of the altar, and on the haut 
pas, were four stools, with footstools to match, for the Dukes of Sussex 
and Cambridge, the Princess Augusta and the Duchess of Gloucester; 
while on the opposite side were six stools of a like description for the 
Duchess of Cambridge, the two Princesses of Cambridge, Prince George 
of Cambridge, Prince Ernest and the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha, the brother and father of the bridegroom. To the left side of the 
altar, and in front of the four stools, first described, were two State 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 145 

chairs — that next the railing of the altar for Her Majesty, and that nearer 
to the aisle for the Duchess of Kent. On the opposite side were also two 
State chairs — that next the railing for Prince Albert, and that nearer 
the aisle for the Dowager Queen Adelaide. Close to the railing of the 
altar were two faldstools for Her Majesty and Prince Albert, to be used 
during the ceremony. The entire floor was covered with a blue-and-gold 
pattern carpet, with the Norman rose. The whole of the remaining part 
of the interior was decorated ; and the ceiling, which is adorned with the 
arms of Great Britain in various colored devices and compartments, pre- 
sented a very tasteful appearance, having been completely renewed. 

The royal and illustrious personages having all taken their places 
in the chapel, after the lapse of a few minutes Her Majesty rose, and with 
the Prince advanced to the steps of the altar. The Archbishop of Can- 
terbury then began the service with impressive solemnity, the Bishop 
of London making the responses. All eyes were now fixed upon the 
Queen. Preparatory to the commencement of the holy rite. Her Maj- 
esty bowed her head upon her hand, and remained for some moments in 
silent prayer. When she had concluded her devotions, the Archbishop 
began the exhortation in the usual words. The entire service was pre- 
cisely that of the Church liturgy, the simple names of "Albert" and "Vic- 
toria" being used. To the usual questions Prince Albert answered 
firmly "I will." 

The corresponding inquiries were then addressed to Her Majesty, 
"Victoria, wilt thou have Albert to be thy wedded husband, to live together 
after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey 
him and serve him, love, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, 
and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall 
live?" 

The Queen — in accents which, though full of softness and music, were 
audible at the most extreme corner of the chapel — replied,"! will ;" and 
in so responding, she "accompanied the expression with a glance at His 
Boyal Highness, which convinced all who beheld it that the heart was 
with her words." 

When the Archbishop inquired, "Who giveth this woman to be mar- 
ried to this man?" the Duke of Sussex advanced, and holding the 
Queen's hand, said, "I do." The Archbishop then took Her Majesty's 
hand, and plaeed it in that of Prince Albert, whereupon the usual forms 
of trothing faith were gone through. Both bride and bridegroom spoke 



146 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

in a tone of voice and with a clearness of enundation whiisli are steldftai 
witnessed on similar ocx^asions in tke hnmbler walks of life. One wlio 
was present at tlie ceremony lias observed that Her Majesty's expression 
of the words "love, cherish and obey," and the confiding look with Which 
they were accompanied were inimitably chaste and beautiful. 

Prince Albert then took the wedding-ring, which was quite plain, off 
his own finger and gave it to the Archbishop. His Grace handed it back 
to the Prince, who then placed it, as directed, on his wife's finger. At 
this moment the Earl of Uxbridge gave the signal, and the cannon fired 
the royal salute, which was answered by the Tower artillery firing alter- 
nately with the Park guns, while all the bells in London and Westmins- 
ter rang out a joyous peal of congratulation. Every citizen in the 
metropolis knew at the same moment that his beloved sovereign had 
become a wedded wife. 

Returning to the scene of the chapel ; the remaining portions of the 
ceremony were impressively read by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Up- 
on the conclusion of the service, the Queen shook hands cordially with the 
various members of the royal family, who now took up their positions 
in the procession as arranged for the return. The Duke of Sussex, after 
shaking the royal bride by the hand with great warmth, affectionately 
kissed her cheek. Her Majesty then crossed over to the other side of the 
altar, where the Queen Dowager was standing, and the two illustrious 
ladies embraced with evident and unaffected cordiality. Prince Albert 
next kissed the hand of Queen Adelaide, and acknowledged her congratu- 
lations. 

The procession, being formed, left the chapel much in the same order 
as it had entered. But Her Majesty and her newly wedded Consort now 
walked together hand-in-hand, ungloved — Prince Albert with sparkling 
eyes and a heightened color smiling down upon the Queen, and she 
appearing very bright and animated. 

When the Queen and her husband passed through the corridor, after 
leaving the chapel, the clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs 
were renewed again and again, until they had vanished out of sight. 
Whether by accident or design, Prince Albert enclosed Her Majesty's 
hand in his own in such a way as to display the wedding-ring, which 
appeared more solid than is usual in ordinary weddings. The various 
royal ladies in the procession were warmly cheered, but an ovation more 
prolonged and enthusiastic than any other given during the whole day. 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 147 

was reserved for the Duke of Wellington as he left the chapel. The Duke 
was not part of the royal procession, and it had passed to some distance 
before he made his appearance. But no sooner had the veteran savior 
of his country arrived in the center of the colonnade, than the whole 
company rose spontaneously, and, without signal of any kind, gave him 
three hearty cheers. The Duke was visibly touched by this greeting. 

The procession passed on to the State apartments, but the Queen and 
Prince Albert, with their royal relatives and the principal Ministers of 
State and members of the Privy Council proceeded to the throne-room, 
where they were joined by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and 
the Bishop of London. The attestation of the marriage now took place 
upon a splendid table prepared for the purpose. Her Majesty and Prince 
Albert signed the marriage register, and it may here be mentioned that 
the name of the Queen is Alexandrina Victoria Guelph, while that of the 
Prince Consort was Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emanuel Busici. 
The marriage was attested by the Duke of Sussex and twenty-nine other 
persons. The attestation book, which is bound in rich purple velvet, is 
a speaking memento of royal nuptial ceremonies for many generations 
past. It is in the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Amongst 
the witnesses who signed at the Queen's marriage was the Duke of Wel- 
lington, and it is an interesting fact that his signature also appeared at 
the attestation of her birth. 

When all was concluded within St. James*, the procession for Buck- 
ingham Palace was reformed in almost the same order as when it set out 
in the morning. Prince Albert now took his place in the same carriage 
with Her Majesty, while the Duchess of Sutherland took her place in 
another carriage with the Earl of Albemarle, who on this occasion alone 
waived his official right to be in the same carriage with Her Majesty. In 
the royal carriage the Queen occupied the place of honor, and Prince 
Albert and the Duchess of Kent sat opposite. Her Majesty's faithful 
subjects were so desirous of seeing her, and were so eager in their demon- 
strations of loyalty, that she put down the closed windows of the car- 
riage, and bowed, with much sweetness upon her smiling features, on the 
right hand and on the left. 

The wedding-breakfast was given at Buckingham Palace, the guests 
including the various members of the royal family, the officers of the 
household, the ministers of state, and the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
the Bishop of London. The wedding-cake, which was admirably 



148 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

designed, was a great object of attraction. It was. more than nine feet 
in circumference by sixteen inches deep. Its weight was three hundred 
pounds, and the materials of which it was composed cost one hundred 
guineas. On the top of the cake was the figure of Britannia in the act 
of blessing the illustrious bride and bridegroom. The figures were nearly 
a foot in height, and by the feet of the Prince was the effigy of a dog, 
intended to represent fidelity, while at the feet of the Queen were two tur- 
tle-doves, denoting the felicities of the marriage state. A Cupid, beauti- 
fully modeled, was writing in a volume expanded on his knees the date of 
the day of the marriage, and various other Cupids were disporting them- 
selves after the manner of Cupids. There were numerous bouquets of 
white flowers, tied with true-lovers' knots of white satin ribbon, on the 
top of the cake; and these were intended for presents to the gTiests at 
the nuptial breakfast. There were large medallions upon shields bearing 
the letters "V." and "A.," and supported by Cupids on pedestals, while 
all round and over the cake were wreaths and festoons of orange-blossom 
and myrtle, entwined with roses. 

Another matter of interest to the fair sex is that each of the royal 
bridesmaids received a, magnificent brooch, the gift of Her Majesty. This 
brooch was in the shape of a bird, the body being formed entirely of tur- 
quoises; the eyes were rubies and the beak a diamond; the claws were of 
pure gold, and rested on pearls of great size and value. The whole work- 
manship was very exquisite, and the design was furnished by the QUeen. 

Shortly before four o'clock the royal party left Buckingham Palace 
for Windsor amid the acclamations of a vast multitude. The first car- 
riage contained the Queen and Prince Albert, the second Prince Ernest 
of Saxe-Coburg and three others the members of the royal suite. Just 
as the procession left the palace the sun shone forth brilliantly upon the 
newly married pair, an emblem, it was universally hoped, of their future 
happiness. Prince Albert was very simply attired in a plain dark travel- 
ing dress, and the Queen appeared in a white satin pelisse, trimmed with 
swansdown, with a white satin bonnet and feather. 

On the road to Windsor the principal houses in the villages were 
illuminated, and crowds came forth to testify their loyal delight on the 
happy occasion. Eton College presented one of the finest spectacles on 
the route. Opposite to the college was a representation of the Parthenon 
at Athens, which was brilliantly illuminated by several thousand varie- 
gated lamps; it was surmounted by flags and banners, and under the 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 149 

royal arms was displayed the following motto : "Gratulatus Etona Vic- 
toriae et Alberto/^ Beneath the clock-tower of the college there was a 
blaze of light, and a number of appropriate (devices were displayed in 
various colored lamps. A triumphal arch, composed of evergreens and 
lamps tastefully displayed, extended across the road. The Etonians, 
wearing white favors, were marshaled in front of the college. They 
received the Queen with loud acclamations, and escorted her to the Castle 
gates. 

By the time Windsor was reached the shades of evening had gathered. 
The whole town could be perceived therefore brilliantly illuminated 
before the royal carriage entered it. A splendid effect was created by the 
dazzling lights as they played upon the faces of the multitude. The 
crowd on the Castle-hill was so dense at half-past six that it was with the 
utmost difficulty a line was kept clear for the royal carriages. The whole 
street was one living mass, whilst the walls of the houses glowed with 
crowns, stars and all the brilliant devices which gas and oil could supply. 
At this moment a flight of rockets was visible in the air, and it was imme- 
diately concluded that the Queen had entered Eton. The bells now rang 
merrily, and the shouts of the spectators were heard as the royal cortege 
approached the Castle. At twenty minutes before seven the royal carriage 
arrived in the High street, Windsor, preceded by the advanced guard of 
the traveling escort. The shouts were now most loud and continuous, 
and from the windows and balconies of the houses handkerchiefs were 
waved by the ladies, whilst the gentlemen huzzaed and waved their hats. 
The carriage, owing to the crowd, proceeded slowly, the Queen and her 
royal Consf)rt bowing to the people. Her Majesty looked remarkably 
well, and Prince Albert seemed in the highest spirits at the cordiality 
with which he was greeted. When the carriage drew up at the grand 
entrance the Queen was handed from it by the Prince; she immediately 
took his arm and entered the Castle. To the royal dinner party which 
followed onl}^ Lady Sandwich, the Lady-in- Waiting, the maids of honor, 
the Hon. Misses Cocks and Cavendish, Lord Torrington, Major Keppel 
and Mr. Seymour, the groom and equerry in waiting, had the honor of 
being invited. 

A splendid state banquet in celebration of the royal wedding was 
given at St. James' Palace in the grand bauqueting-room. The Duchess 
of Kent, who was the only royal personage present, did the honors of 
the occasion J being supported on her right by the Earl of ErroU, and on 



150 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

her left by tKe Earl of Albemarle. TJf»wards of a hundred distinguished 
persons received invitations, and all attended in court dresses, the mem- 
bers of the orders of knighthood wearing their respective insignia. The 
Queen Dowager gave a banquet at Marlborough House, at which several 
members of the royal family were present; and dinners were given by 
Viscount Melbourne, Lord John Eussell, Lord Palmerston and other 
members of the Cabinet. The theaters were thrown open free, and at 
every house the National Anthem was sung with rapturous enthusiasm. 
The gaieties in London and several of the provincial towns were kept up 
for some days. 

The Dowager Lady Lyttelton, who was an eye-witness of the marriage, 
and who was thrown much into the company of the Sovereign as a lady 
of the bedchamber, and subsequently as governess to the royal children, 
wrote at a later date respecting the wedding : "The Queen's look and 
manner were very pleasing, her eyes much swollen with tears, but great 
happiness in her countenance, and her look of confidence and comfort 
at the Prince when they walked away as man and wife was very pleasing 
to see. I understand she is in extremely high spirits since; such a new 
thing to her to dare to be unguarded in conversation with anybody, and, 
with her frank and fearless nature, the restraints she had hitherto been 
under from one reason or another with everybody must have been most 
painful." 

For one day only, the 11th of February, were the Queen and Prince 
alone together at Windsor, and on that day Her Majesty wrote to Baron 
Stockmar, "There cannot exist a dearer, purer, nobler being in the world 
than the Prince." On the 12th the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Coburg, 
the hereditary Prince, and the whole court joined the happy couple, who 
would doubtless have been glad if the exigencies of state could have been 
relaxed a little more. After two more brief days the court returned to 
London, for royalty was not able to indulge in a honeymoon as ordinary 
folk. On the 18th the Queen held a court at Buckingham Palaee for 
the reception of congratulatory addresses from the Houses of Parlia- 
ment. Subsequently she received addresses from the London clergy, the 
Corporation of London, the University of Cambridge, the So<;iety of 
Friends and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The 
Duke of Wellington also headed a deputation from Oxford, and read a 
complimentary address to Her Majesty; and several hundred students 
of the University were present in academic costume. On the 26th of 



THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 151 

February the Queen and Prince Albert visited Drury Lane Theater in 
state, receiving a most enthusiastic welcome, and we read afterwards of 
visits to the hunting-field, to the Royal Academy and other sources of 
outdoor and intellectual enjoyment. Further honors were conferred upon 
the Prince. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 
and appointed Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment of Light Dragoons, 
which was now armed, clothed and equipped as Hussars, and called 
"Prince Albert's Own Hussars." 

The Duke of Cobiirg left England on the 28th of February on his 
return to Germany. Prince Albert's sorrow at parting with his father 
was very great, for it now meant permanent separation. The Queen, 
writing in her Journal, remarks concerning Prince Albert's feelings at 
this time : "He said to me that I had never known a father, and could 
not therefore feel what he did. His childhood had been very happy. 
Ernest, he said, was now the only one remaining here of all his earliest 
ties and recollections ; but if I continued to love him as I did now, I could 
make up for all. * * * Oh ! how I did feel for my dearest, precious 
husband at this moment! Father, brother, friends, country, all has he 
left, and all for me. God grant that I may be the happy person, the mo!^t 
happy person to make this dearest, blessed being happy and contented. 
What is in my power to make him happy I will do." Another severe trial 
for the Prince occurred some weeks later, when he said adieu to his 
brother Ernest. "They bade farewell, German student fashion, singing 
together the parting song, ^AhschiedJ " The brothers embraced each 
other affectionately, "poor Albert being pale as a sheet, and his eyes full 
of tears." 

The Queen was absolutely obliged for her own comfort, as well as to 
establish the rights of her husband, to issue letters patent conferring on 
him precedence next to herself. All kinds of objections and disputes 
would have arisen but for this step, and some indeed did so before the 
issue of the patent. As to the general conduct of the Prince, it was most 
wise and unexceptionable. He sank himself in order to smooth the course 
of the Queen, but was always ready with his counsel and advice, x-ls the 
Prince himself subsequently expressed it, he resolved "to sink his own 
individual existence in that of his wife, to aim at no power, by himself or 
for himself, to shun all ostentation, to assume no separate responsibility 
before the public ; continually and anxiously to watch every part of the 
public business in order to be able to advise and assist her at any moment, 



152 THE QUEEN A BRIDE. 

in any of the multifarious and dijBflcult questions brought before her — 
sometimes political or social or personal — as the natural head of the 
family, superintendent of her household, manager of her private affairs, 
her sole confidential adviser in politics and only assistant in her com- 
munications with the affairs of the Government." Again, writing to his 
father he said, "I endeavor quietly to be of as much use to Victoria in 
her position as I can." 

How well and judiciously on the whole the Prince fulfilled his func- 
tions as the Queen's adviser, history has already borne testimony. If 
he sometimes made mistakes, he certainly made fewer than might have 
been expected from one in his difficult position. But his unquestioned 
integrity, his sincerity, honesty and high principle stood him in good stead; 
and they were a sheet-anchor upon which the Queen could always rely. 
Neither Her Majesty nor her husband expected to find life easy in their 
exalted station ; but as both were in deep sympathy with each other, and 
as love, trustful and unfeigned, was the moving spring of both, difficulties 
were overcome instead of becoming themselves insurmountable. If ever 
it could be said of any marriage the Queen's was a marriage of profound 
happiness and mutual trust, for it was a real union of souls. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

The Postal System of the United Kingdom— Need of Improvements— Sir Rowland Hill and 
the Penny Post — Opposition to His Plans — Measures for the Protection of Child Chim- 
ney Sweeps — Attempt of Edward Oxford to Shoot the Queen — The Prince Consort At- 
tains His Majority— Birth of the Princess Boyal — Accident to Prince Albert— Sir Robert 
Peel Becomes Prime Minister — Birth and Christening of the Prince of Wales, 

A FEW weeks before the royal marriage took place, a. social and 
administrative reform was begun in Great Britain which pos- 
sessed a deep interest for both the Queen and Prince Albert. 
For many years the postage system of the country had been in 
a state wholly inadequate to the requirements of modern civilization. 
When a regular postoffice was established in the reign of Charles I. (all 
communication until then being occasional and precarious), the number 
of persons who could read and write was small, and the needs of the 
public were proportionately trivial. But in the middle of the nineteenth 
century it was imperative that the transmission of letters should be 
cheap, rapid aud facile. Facile and cheap it certainly was not, and before 
the full elaboration of the railway system there could be no rapidity in 
the modern sense of the term. Education was spreading ; yet, to relatives 
and friends divided by a few miles, the expense of a letter was so great 
that, in many instances, people forbore from writing altogether, or 
resorted to a number of curious and dishonest tricks for sending and 
obtaining some sort of intelligence without paying for it. 

The objections to the postal system were many and glaring. It was 
needlessly onerous; it encouraged fraud; it hindered the natural inter- 
communication of the poor; it was uncertain in its operations, and it 
included a gTeat deal of offensive spying. Still, owing to the force of 
habit, it survived years of obloquy, until a genius arose capable of organ- 
izing a better method. 

Mr. Eowland Hill (subsequently Sir Eowland), Secretary to the 
South Australian Commission, published early in 1837 a pamphlet on 
"Postoffice Reform : Its Importance and Practicability." He had observed 
that the number of letters passing through the post bore a ridiculously 
small proportion to the number of the population, Hi«? mathematical 

1S3 



154 THE LABORS OF "A MONARCH. 

mind induced him to make calculations as to the cost of conveyance, and 
he found that the expense of transit on each individual letter between 
London and Edinburgh a distance of four hundred miles — ^was not more 
than the thirty-sixth part of a penny. Indeed, the cost was but little 
enhanced by the distance; and Mr. Hill therefore came to the conclusion 
that if the rates of postage were reduced to the lowest, if the dispatch 
of letters wer© made more frequent, and the speed of conveyance were 
increased, the revenue would gain instead of lose, to say nothing of the 
social boon. 

Starting from his well-ascertained datum that thirty-six letters could 
be carried from London to Edinburg at a cost of a penny, Mr. Hill 
strongly urged the desirability of adopting a uniform rate of postage 
within the limits of the United Kingdom. That this rate should not be 
more than a penny followed naturally from the proved facts of the case 
and from the obvious justice of giving the public the advantage of a 
cheapness which would actually benefit instead of injuring the revenue. 
Nevertheless, the opposition encountered proved very serious and harass- 
ing. All the persons engaged in the old system were pledged to resist 
the new; and it appears to have been really thought that a penny post 
would entail such difficulties in its organization as to be practically 
impossible. The Postmaster General, Lord Litchfield, declared in the 
House of Lords that the proposed scheme was the wildest and most extrav- 
agant he had ever known. In the opinion of this official and several 
others the necessary expenses would be absolutely overwhelming, while, 
owing to the immeasurable increase of correspondence, no building 
would be large enough to receive the clerks and the letters. This very 
argument, however, clearly implied that there was a public want which the 
existing system did not supply. 

Some persons, from whom a greater liberality might have been 
expected, were as antagonistic to the scheme as if they had been postoffice 
officials. The Rev. Sydney Smith, who had been a reformer in his earlier 
days, but who was now getting old, spoke of the plan as "nonsensical," 
and as needlessly entailing a loss of a million to the revenue. Rowland 
Hill, however, was not a man to be deterred by any amount of difficulty. 
He had convinced himself, and ultimately he convinced others, that let- 
ters might be sent to any part of Great Britain and Ireland for the sum 
of one penny, and that yet there would be a profit of 200 per cent. The 
uniformity of charge would in itself save a large amount of time and 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 155 

tripubie,; and \l t\w poBtage could be paid in advance there would be a 
still furtlier gain in general convenience. The idea of a penny letter- 
stamp was suggested to Mr. Hill by a proposal put forth some years 
before by Mr. Charles Knight, the eminent author and publisher, who 
thought that the best way of collecting a penny postage on newspapers 
would be by the use of stamped covers. This plan was ultimately adopted 
for letters, and people of the present day, if they think at all upon the 
subject, are astonished how the preceding generation could have gone on 
from year to year without a. method at once so cheap, so simple and so 
admirably adapted to the necessities of the case. 

Franking was abolished with the introduction of the new method, and 
although the Queen was still entitled to this privilege she immediately 
relinquished it, with that good feeling which always distinguished Her 
Majesty's relations towards her people. 

Another social reform in which Her Majesty and Prince Albert took 
the deepest interest was in some degree associated with the year 1840. 
On August 7 an act of Parliament was passed with reference to the 
employment of children in the sweeping of chimneys. By the terms of 
this act it was made unlawful for master-sweeps to take apprentices 
under sixteen years of age, and no individual under twenty-one was to 
ascend a chimney after July 1, 1842. The law w^as made more stringent in 
1864 ; but in the meanwhile it did an immense amount of good. The bar- 
barity of the system it supplanted was great indeed. Boys of tender 
years, whose ordinary treatment by their einployers was of the roughest 
kind, were compelled, often by acts of extreme violence, to ascend chim- 
neys for the purpose of brushing down the soot. Cases were known in 
which these poor little creatures were lost and stifled in the dark, cav- 
ernous and winding passages which they had to thread. At the best the 
suffering was great and entailed diseases of the joints, of the eyes and of 
the respiratory organs. The system was wholly inexcusable, for a brush 
was in use which answered every purpose; but it required an act of Par- 
liament to enforce the protection of unfortunte children. 

Between the introduction of the new postal system and the passing 
of the bill for the protection of youthful sweeps.. Her Majesty was exposed 
to a danger and an affront which she probably never anticipated, though 
it was afterwards repeated several times. On June 10, 1840, the Queen 
was driving up Constitution Hill, in company with Prince Albert, when 
she was twice fired at by a pot-boy, seventeen years of age, named Edward 



156 THE LABORS OF 'A MONARCH. 

Oxford. Her Majesty turned very pale, and, between the firing of the first 
and second shots, rose up in her carriage ; but Prince Albert immediately 
pulled her down by his side. 

"The report of the pistol," said a witness of the occurrence, "attracted 
my attention, and I heard a distinct whizzing or buzzing before my eyes, 
between my face and the carriage. The moment he fired the pistol he 
turned himself round, as if to' see whether any one was behind him. 
He then set himself back again, drew a second pistol with his left hand 
from his right breast, presented it across the one he had already fired, 
which he had in his right hand, and fired again, taking very deliberate 
aim." Several persons rushed upon the miscreant. The fellow was 
quite calm and collected, admitted having fired the pistols, and went 
quietly with two of the police to the Queen Square Station. He was dis- 
covered to be one Edward Oxford, seventeen years of age, and recently 
employed as barman at a public house in Oxford street. 

The Queen, as might naturally be supposed, was seriously alarmed at 
the occurrence, but besides being extremely pale did not betray any out- 
ward agitation. Kising to show that she was unhurt, she ordered the 
postilions to drive to Ingestre House, her first thought being for her 
mother. The Duchess of Kent received her daughter safely before there 
had been time for her to be shocked by the news of the attempted assas- 
sination. The Queen and the Prince remained with the Duchess for a 
short time and then returned by way of Hyde Park. The royal pair were 
received with every symptom of deep satisfaction by a large gathering of 
ladies and gentlemen in the park, and escorted to Buckingham Palace. 
Large numbers of the nobility called in the evening to offer their con- 
gratulations. 

For many days after the dastardly affair there was an exhibition of 
almost unbounded loyalty. The journals of the day report that thou- 
sands of people continued to assemble before the palace, and hundreds 
of noblemen, members of the Government and private ladies and gentle- 
men, called to congratulate or inquire, and to present their grateful 
addresses on such a happy and providential deliverance. Whenever Her 
Majesty and the Prince drove out they were escorted by hundreds of 
ladies and gentlemen on horseback, who accompanied them like a body- 
guard; whilst the immense sympathizing crowds cheered most enthu- 
siastically. At first there was a surmise as to a widespread conspiracy 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 157 

being on foot, but this report was discovered to be unfounded, thougk 
there had been some slight countenance for it. 

At different theaters, and at places where public dinners were held, 
as soon as the news transpired on the Wednesday evening, the day 
of the attempt, "God Save the Queen" was sung, with loyal fervor. A 
grand concert was being held at the Opera House for the benefit of the 
New Musical Fund. It was to have terminated with Mozart's overture 
to Idomeneo, but Sir George Smart, the conductor, stepped forward, 
and having informed the audience of the attempt on Her Majesty's life, 
}!roposed to substitute the National Anthem. His suggestion was 
received with great enthusiasm. 

On the 12th a remarkable scene of loyalty was witnessed at Bucking- 
ham palace. The sheriffs of London, the Cabinet Ministers and others 
attended early to present addresses of congratulation; but the great 
event of the day was the presentation of addresses from the two Houses 
of Parliament. At two o'clock the state*carriage of the Speaker of the 
House of Commons entered the court, followed by 109 carriages filled 
entirely with members of Parliament. Never before, it is said, was the 
Speaker followed by so numerous a cortege on the occasion of presenting 
an address. As soon as the carriages of the Commons had left the court 
the procession of the Lords began to enter — the Barons first, and then 
the other peers, rising in rank to the royal Dukes of Sussex and Cam- 
bridge; the Lord Chancellor bringing up the rear. There were eighty- 
one carriages in the peers' procession, which was brilliant and imposing 
to an extraordinary degree. Many of the Lords wore splendid uniforms 
and decorations of various orders; the Duke of Wellington especially 
was attired with much magnificence. The procession of the Commons 
passed with little notice from the crowd; but on the Duke's appearance 
the cheering was enthusiastic and universal. The Dukes of Sussex and 
Cambridge also were cheered. Whilst the Lords were alighting from 
their carriages the grand terrace in front of the palace was crowded 
with distinguished persons in splendid costumes. 

"The Queen received the address on the throne. The Lord Chancellor 
and the Speaker of the House of Commons advanced side by side. The 
Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge walked in a line with the Lord Chan- 
cellor, the peers and commoners following. Prince Albert stood on the 
left of the throne; the great officers of state and of the household on the 



168 THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

right. The Lord Chancellor read the address^ and the Queen was gra- 
ciouslj pleased to receive ft." 

Similar enthusiasm was manifested all over the country. On the 16th 
and 18th the Queen and Prince Albert went to Ascot races, receiving a 
remarkable ovation. Two days later the Queen visited the opera for the 
first time after the atrocious attempt on her life, and the appearance of 
the Sovereign here was likewise the signal for a loyal demonstration of a 
very striking character. The vast audience rose, the National Anthem 
was sung with great enthusiasm, the assembly loudly cheering at the end 
of each verse; Her Majesty standing all the time, and graciously acknowl- 
edging the congratulations of the audience. As soon as the singing of 
the anthem was concluded Prince Albert was called and received three 
hearty cheers. 

Her Majesty and the Prince paid a visit to Greenwich Hospital on the 
27th, going down from Whitehall in the Admiralty barges. They had 
lunch with the Governor, Vice-Admiral Fleming, and then walked 
through the different halls, and inspected the dinners prepared for the 
veteran tars. Grace having been said, the Queen partook of the soup, 
bread and meat provided for the gallant inmates of the Hospital, and 
handed a piece of the bread to one of the ladies of her suite. The veterans 
were highly delighted with the affable manners of the Queen, and the 
kind manner in which she inquired after their welfare. Eound the grand 
square 1,000 iDensioners of all classes were drawn up, while 800 school- 
boys and the nurses and girls in the establishment took up various posi- 
tions assigned to them. The day was a memorable one, and the royal 
visitors were much struck with the excellence of the arrangements. 

Oxford was brought to trial at the Central Criminal Court on the 8th 
of July. There had been found at his lodgings, after he was searched, a 
(juantity of powder and shot, and the rules of a secret society styled 
"Young England," prescribing, among other things, that every member 
should, when ordered to meet, be armed with pistols and a sword, and a 
black crape cap to cover his face. The charge against Oxford was high 
treason in its most exaggerated form — that is, a direct attempt on the 
life of the Queen. The Attorney-General prosecuted, and a considerable 
number of witnesses were examined. There was a curious nonchalance 
on the part of the prisoner all through, which pointed to insanity. 

When Lord Uxbridge visited him in his cell, Oxford coolly and 
impudently asked, "Is the Queen well?" to which his Lordship responded, 




en 

M 

§ 




Ke>si>gton Palace, London— Birthplace of Queen Victobla. 

Here, with large gardens and limited means, Victoria learned in childhood the lesson of thrift an4 
economy. v»»*ii.i, «uv 




Balmoral Castle, Scotland 

queen victoria's favorite residence in the highlands. 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 161 

"How dare you ask sucli a question?" The prisoner frankly owned hav- 
ing fired the pistols, which he stated were well loaded. Mr. Fox Maule 
put in the following deposition, which the misguided youth had volun- 
tarily made and signed at the Home Office: "A great many witnesses 
against me. Some say that I shot with my left, others with my right 
hand. They vary as to the distance. After I fired the first pistol. Prince 
Albert got up as if he would jump out of the carriage, and sat down again, 
as if he thought better of it. Then I fired the second pistol. This is all 
I shall say at present. — Edward Oxford.^^ 

Witnesses were called for the defense to show that a predisposition to 
insanity existed in the prisoner's mind, and that it was hereditary in his 
family, his grandfather having died in a lunatic asylum. The prisoner 
himself, it was shown, had before behaved in an alarming manner. There 
seemed to be no doubt that Oxford was suffering from insanity, which 
manifested itself in a morbid desire for notoriety; and the jury found him 
guilty, at the same time declaring him to be insane. The prisoner, who 
had remained unmoved during the whole of the proceedings, was ordered 
to be confined during Her Majesty's pleasure. 

It seems, i^erhaps, to have been a great hubbub created over one mis- 
erable, crazy youth — addresses, rejoicings, grand processions and a great 
state trial; but then even a small pistol and a crazy youth might have 
been the means of causing a great disaster, and plunging a whole nation 
into mourning. Little wonder, then, that it should have been plunged 
into universal rejoicing instead. With regard to the future of Oxford, 
he was confined first in Bedlam, and then in Dartmoor. He always 
explained his act as having been prompted by sheer vanity and desire for 
notoriety. After about thirty-five years' imprisonment he was released 
on condition that he would gO' to the Antipodes. Not many years ago he 
was earning his living as a house-painter in Australia. 

Towards the close of the parliamentary session of 1840 a Regency 
Bill was introduced. Tlie prospect of an heir to the throne rendered it 
necessary to make provision for Her Majesty's possible death or length- 
ened disqualification for reigning. Both political parties were consulted 
in the matter, and a bill was brought forward, providing that Prince 
Albert should be Eegent in the event of the death of Queen Victoria 
before her next lineal descendant and successor should have attained the 
full age of eighteen years. The measure was well received, and, with the 
exception of a speech made by the Duke of Sussex in the House of Lords, 



163 THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

it passed both Houses unanimously and without objection, and became 
law. 

The Prince made his way with all classes, even with those ToTies who 
had at first looked rather askance at him. He was conciliator^ and judi- 
cious; and to show the way he had advanced in the public esteem, the 
remark which Melbourne made to the Queen on the Regency Bill may be 
quoted : "Three months ago they would not have done it for him ; it is 
entirely his own character." The Duke of Wellington was so completely 
won over that he remarked: "Let the Queen put the Prince where she 
Iikes> and settle it herself; that is the best way." His Grace also made 
short work of questions of state etiquette, and when Lord Albemarle, 
Master of the Horse, held out about his right to sit in the Sovereign's 
coach on state occasions, he said, on being asked for his opinion : "The 
Queen can make Lord Albemarle sit at the top of the coach, under the 
coach, behind the coach, or wherever else Her Majesty pleases." 

The Queen prorogued Parliament on the 11th of August, Prince 
Albert accompanying her for the first time. Next day the court left for 
Windsor. On the 26th His Royal Highness attained his majority, and 
the event was celebrated by a breakfast at Adelaide Lodge. The Prince 
went to London on the 28th for the purpose of receiving the freedom of 
the city. At this ceremony the names of six Aldermen and Common 
Councilmen, who undertook to vouch for the eligibility of the Prince, 
were read, together with the declaration upon oath. The oath was as 
follows : "We declare, upon the oath we took at the time of our admis- 
sion to the freedom of the city, that Prince Albert is of good name and 
fame; that he does not desire the freedom of this city whereby to defraud 
the Queen or this city of any of their rights, customs or advantages; but 
that he will pay his scot and bear his lot : aud so we all say." 

The Chamberlain then proposed the freeman's oath to the Prince, 
and it was remarked that he was evidently moved at that part where he 
swore to keep the peace towards Her Majesty. Husbands do not always 
voluntarily swear to keep the peace towards their wives. The Cham- 
berlain having next addressed His Royal Highness, the Prince delivered 
the following answer very distinctly and audibly : "It is with the greatest 
pleasure that I meet you upon this occasion, and offer you my warmest 
thanks for the honor which has been conferred upon me by the presenta- 
tion of the freedom of the City of London. The wealth and intelligence 
of this vast city have raised it to the hjtghest eminence amongst the cities 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 163 

of the world; and it must therefore ever be esteemed a great distinctiou 
to be numbered amongst the members of jowv ancient Corporation. I 
shall always remember with pride and satisfaction the day on which I 
became your fellow-citizen ; and it is especially gratifying to me, as mark- 
ing your loyalty and affection to the Queen." 

Prince Albert was sworn a member of the Privy Council on the 11th 
of September, and it is stated that so anxious was he to discharge con- 
scientiously every duty which might devolve upon him, that in his retire- 
ment at Windsor he set to work to master Hallam's Constitutional His- 
tory with the Queen, and also began the study of English law with a 
barrister. 

Early in November preparations were made at Buckingham Palace 
for the approaching accouchement of the Queen. The Court removed from 
Windsor to London on the 13th, and on the 21st the Princess Royal was 
born at Buckingham Palace at 1 :40 p. m. In the Queen's chamber were 
the Duchess of Kent, Prince Albert and the medical men, with Mrs. Lilly, 
the nurse, and some of the ladies of the bedchamber. In an adjoining 
apartment the door of which was open were the Duke of Sussex, the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Lord Chancellor, Lord 
Melbourne, Lord Palmerston, Lord ErroU, Lord Albemarle, Lord John 
Russell and other Privy Councillors, whose constitutional duty it was 
to be present at the birth of an heir to the throne. At ten minutes 
before two Mrs. Lilly entered the ante-chamber where the Privy Council- 
lors were assembled, with the "young stranger" — a beautiful, plump and 
healthy princess-— wrapped in flannel, in her arms. Sir James Clark 
followed the nurse. The babe was for a moment laid upon the table, 
but the loud tones in which she indicated her displeasure at thus being 
made "the observed of all observers," while they proved the soundness of 
her lungs and the maturity of her frame, rendered it advisable that she 
should be returned to her chamber tO' receive her first attire. Prince 
Albert received the congratulations of all present, and then the officials 
retired to spread the happy news throughout the metropolis. The Tower 
guns were fired in honor of the event. According tO' the gossip of the 
time. Prince Albert expressed a fear that the people might be disap- 
pointed, whereupon the Queen reassured him by saying, "Never mind; 
the next shall be a boy," adding that she hoped she might have as many 
children as her grandmother. Queen Charlotte. The Queen has recorded 
the traits of tenderness shown by her husband during her seclusion. "He 



1G4 THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

was content to sit by her in a darkened room, toi read to her, and write 
for her. No one but himself ever lifted her from her bed to her sofa, and 
he always helped to wheel her on her bed or sofa into the next room. For 
this purpose he would come instantly when sent for, from any part of the 
house. His care for her was like that of a mother, nor could there be a 
kinder, wiser, more judicious nurse/' 

On the very day after the birth of the Princess Koyal, '^the boy Jones'' 
— who seems to have had a mania for surreptitiously entering Bucking- 
ham Palace — was found concealed under a sofa in a room next to the 
Queen's. It was not the first time he had entered the palace, and when 
he was questioned as to how he had come there, he impudently replied, 
"The same way as before," adding that he could find his way into the 
palace at any time he pleased. It was believed that he scaled the garden 
wall about half way up Constitution Hill, and effected an entrance 
through one of the windows of the palace. On the last occasion on which 
he was caught, he was found about 1 a. m. crouched in a recess, with his 
shoes off, by the police-sergeant on duty in the interior of the palace. 
The rascally youth boasted that, screened by some article of furniture, 
he had coolly listened for some time to the conversation of the Queen and 
lier Koyal Consort. Jones was taken to the Home Office, but the authori- 
ties scarcely knew what to do with him. Being deemed too young for 
serious punishment, he was committed to the House of Correction, Tothill 
Fields, as a rogue and vagabond for three months. He behaved remark- 
ably well while in prison. Some time after his release he was induced to 
become an apprentice for five years on board a vessel bound for Aus- 
tralia, where he learned discipline and became a steady seaman. 

The Queen speedily recovered from her accouchement, and opened 
Parliament in person on the 26th of January, 1841. Prince Albert, in 
the uniform of a Field Marshal, entered the House of Lords with the 
royal procession, and took his seat on the chair of state appropriated for 
him on the left of the throne. The Queen's speech was not an exciting 
document. Happily, affairs were peaceful at home at this time, though 
abroad there were wars and rumors of wars. England was then passing 
through one of her many difficulties with China ; serious differences had 
arisen between Spain and Portugal on the navigation of the Douro; and 
affairs in the Levant were in a serious condition. England had con- 
cluded with Russia, Prussia, Austria and Turkey a convention intended 
to effect a pacification of the Levant, to maintain the integrity and inde- 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 165 

pendence of the Ottoman Empire, and thereby to afford additional secur- 
ity for the peace of Europe. She had also just concluded treaties with 
the Argentine Eepublic and the Republic of Hayti for the suppression 
of the slave trade. 

An accident happened to Prince Albert on the 9th of February, whicb, 
but for the Queen's presence of mind, might have had serious conse- 
quences. His Royal Highness was skating in Buckingham Palace Gar- 
dens when the ice suddenly gave way, and he was immersed in deep water. 
He had to swim for several minutes before he got out. The Queen was 
close by the Prince when the accident occurred, and was the only person 
who had suflQcient presence of mind to render him any material assist- 
ance. 

The christening of the Princess Royal took place on the 10th, in the 
throne-room at Buckingham Palace. The font, new for the occasion, was 
very elegant in form and exquisitely finished. It was of silver gilt, elab- 
orately carved with the royal arms, etc. The water used for the ceremony 
was brought from the river Jordan. The Archbishop of Canterbury offi- 
ciated, with the assistance of the Bishops of London and Norwich, and 
the Dean of Carlisle. The Duke of Wellington appeared as sponsor on 
behalf of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the other sponsors 
present were the Queen Dowager, the Duchess of Gloucester, the 
Duchess of Kent, the King of the Belgians and the Duke of 
Sussex. Queen Adelaide named the royal infant "Victoria Ade- 
laide Mary Louisa." Prince Albert wrote to the Dowager Duch- 
ess of Gotha: "The christening went off very well; your little 
great-granddaughter behaved with great propriety and like a Chris- 
tian. She was awake, but did not cry at all, and seemed to crow with 
immense satisfaction at the lights and brilliant uniforms, for she is very 
intelligent and observing. The ceremony took place at half -past six 
p. m. After it there was a dinner, and then we had some instrumental 
music. The health of the little one was drunk with great enthusiasm." 

The ensuing summer saw the Queen and her husband entering into 
the pleasures of the people and sharing them with much zest. They lis- 
tened to the moving declamation of the great French actress, Rachel, and 
welcomed Adelaide Kemble, who made her fii'st appearance in opera this 
season. The Queen's influence upon the stage was a healthful and 
restraining one. As Mrs. Oliphant has observed, she was "in the fore- 
ground of the national life, affecting it always for good, and setting an 



166 THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

example of purity and virtue. The theaters to which she went, and 
which both she and her husband enjoyed, were purified by her presence; 
evils which had been the growth of years disappearing before the face of 
the young Queen." 

The Whig Ministry, having been defeated in the House of Commons 
by a majority of one, on a vote of want of confidence proposed by Sir 
Kobert Peel, determined to appeal to the country. Parliament was dis- 
solved accordingly, and the elections were held in July. The Conserva- 
tives gained a great majority, and when the new Parliament assembled 
in August, Ministers were placed in a minority of ninety-one in a House 
of 629 members. Lord Melbourne and his colleagues consequently resigned 
office. The Queen's parting with the Premier was a very trying one on 
both sides. In taking his leave of his Sovereign, Melbourne congratu- 
lated her on the great advantage she possessed in the presence and coun- 
sel of the Prince, which would have the effect of softening to her the trial 
of the first change of Ministers in her reign. "For four years," added 
Melbourne, "I have seen you every day; but it is so different from what it 
would have been in 1839. The Prince understands everything so well, and 
has a clever, able head." This tribute to her husband greatly touched 
the Queen, who has recorded her regret at parting with "a faithful and 
attached friend, as Avell as Minister." It was with great pleasure and 
pride that she listened to Melbourne's praise of her royal husband. 

Sir Robert Peel came into power as Prime Minister, and his bearing 
appears to have been everything that was admirable and judicious. Care 
had been taken to avoid any such esclandre as the "Bedchamber Plot," 
for when it was becoming apparent that a change of Ministry must take 
I)lace, it was arranged that those of the Queen's ladies whose removal 
the Tories considered essential, on account of their close relationship 
to leading Whig Ministers, should voluntarily retire. As the result of 
this understanding, the Duchess of Bedford, the Duchess of Sutherland 
and Lady Normanby resigned their positions as ladies of the bedchamber. 
A passage in the Life of the Prince Consort, referring to the bearing of 
the new Premier, says: "Lord Melbourne told Baron Stockmar, who 
had just returned from Coburg, that Sir Robert Peel had behaved most 
handsomely, and that the conduct of the Prince throughout had been 
most moderate and judicious." All the friction caused by that little 
matter of Peel's attitude towards the Royal Annuity Bill had entirely 
passed away from the Prince's mind. 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 16r 

One of the earliest acts of the new Minister was to propose a Fine 
Arts Commissionj with Prince Albert as chairman. Its more immediate 
object was the superintendence of the artistic work at the new Houses 
of Parliament. Nothing could have been suggested which would have 
afforded greater pleasure to the Queen and the Prince than this com- 
mission, and the latter spoke of it as his real initiation into public life. 
It gave him an opportunity to display his taste, and to advance the liberal 
arts in the country. As to social reforms, it should be stated to the 
Prince's credit that it was owing to his influence, and that of the Duke 
of Wellington, that the practice of dueling disappeared from the British 
army. 

There was great rejoicing at Buckingham Palace on the 9th of Novem- 
ber, 1841, when the Queen gave birth to her first-born son, and conse- 
quently the heir to the throne. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the 
Premier and all the great officers of state were summoned to the palace 
as early as seven o'clock in the morning, and the Duchess of Kent arrived 
at nine. The Queen w^as then very ill, and had been so at intervals dur- 
ing the two preceding hours. Prince Albert manifested the greatest 
anxiety and interest, as he remained in attendance with the medical men, 
Sir James Clark, Dr. Locock and Mr. Blagden. Shortly before eleven 
o'clock the Prince was born. He was conveyed by the nurse to the Privy 
Councillors and others in the adjoining apartment, who thereupon signed 
a declaration as to the birth of an heir to the British Crown. Intelli- 
gence of the happy event was immediately communicated to all the mem- 
bers of the royal family, including the Queen Dowager, who was at Sud- 
bury Hall; the Duchess of Cambridge, v/ho was at Kew; the Princess 
Sophia, who was at Blackheath, and the Duchesses of Gloucester and 
Cambridge, and the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George, who w^ere in 
London. 

Official etiquette, usually as strong as the law of the Medes and Per- 
sians, was for once set aside in the great joy over the birth of a Prince. 
It appears that almost every influential individual in the household of 
Her Majesty stej)ped out of his proper sphere, and gave directions which 
belonged to the departments of others. There was a complete confusion 
of places for at least half an hour after the event, and court officials 
rushed hither and thither with the gratifying intelligence of the birth of 
a Prince; three messengers arrived at Marlborough House within two 
minutes, all desirous of being the first to convey the news to the Queen 



168 THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

Dowager. An act of royal clemency marked the happy occasion of the 
birth of an heir to the throne. Her Majesty was pleased to notify to the 
Home Secretary that those convicts who had behaved well should have 
their punishment commuted; and that those deserving this clemency on 
board the various hulks should have their liberty at once granted to 
them. On the 11th of November the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, 
and the Sheriffs, were received at Buckingham Palace. After having had 
caudle served, the party were conducted by the Lord Chamberlain to the 
apartments of Prince Albert, tO' pay a visit of congratulation to His 
Eoyal Highness. The infant Prince was brought into the room in which 
the company were assembled, and was carried round to all the distin- 
guished visitors present. The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a special 
prayer to be offered up in all churches on behalf of the Queen and the 
infant Prince. 

For the post of nurse to the royal child there had been many appli- 
cations, some being from ladies of wealth and position. The choice of 
the Queen fell upon Mrs. Brough, an under-servant at Claremont, who 
was herself, before her marriage, a housemaid in the establishment. At 
the birth of the Princess Royal the previous wet-nurse received £500 ; but 
on the birth of the Prince of Wales all the gratuities were doubled. 

There was great happiness within the palace. At Christmas the 
Queen wrote in her Journal : "To think that we have two children now, 
and one who enjoys the sight already (the Christmas-tree) ; it is like a 
dream." Prince Albert, writing to his father, said: "This is the dear 
Christmas eve on which I have so often listened with impatience for your 
step, which was to convey us into the gift-room. To-day I have two chil- 
dren of my own to make gifts to, who, they know not why, are full of 
happy wonder at the German Christmas-tree and its ra,diant candles." 
Her Majesty gives us another sketch of a peaceful "interior:" "Albert 
brought in dearest little Pussy (Princess Victoria), in such a smart, 
white merino dress, trimmed with blue, which mamma had given her, 
and a pretty cap, and placed her on my bed, seating himself next to her, 
and she was very dear and good ; and as my precious, invaluable Albert 
sat there, and our little love betw^een us, I felt quite moved with happi- 
ness and gratitude to God." Writing some weeks later to King Leopold, 
she said : "I wonder very much whom our little boy will be like. You 
will understand how fervent are my prayers, and I am sure everybody's 
must be, to see him resemble his father in every respect, both in mind and 




Albert Memorial, 

The above beautiful group, made of marble and entitled "Africa," is a monument erected 
in London, to the memory of Prince Albert, for encouraging work in Northern Africa and 
carrying light and intelligence to the African race. 




BoYAL. Mausoleum 

The mausoleum in which Victoria was interred is situated in Frogmore Park, within 
Sight of Windsor Castle. It was finished a year after the death of the Prince Consort and 
received his remains in December, 1862. The mausoleum is said to have cost $1,000,000 and 
is one of the most sumptuous buildings of its kind in the world. 




Coronation Chair— Westminster Abbey 

This picture is a reproduction of a photograph of the 
chair in which the sovereigns of England have been 
crowned since the time of Edward III. It is made of 
marble and very handsomely carved. 




Queen's Private Chapel 

(Windsor Castle.) 




Gkaistd Vestibule— "Windsor Castmb 



THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. lU 

body." And in another letter she remarked : "We all have our ti'ials. 
and vexations; but if one's home is happy, then the rest is comparatively 
nothing." 

When the baby Prince was a month old the Queen issued a patent cre- 
ating "our most dear son" Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. He 
Avas already Duke of Saxony, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, Earl of 
Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scot- 
land. With regard to his new Welsh dignity the patent ran : "As has 
been accustomed, we do ennoble and invest him with the said principality 
and earldom, by girting him with a sword, by putting a coronet on his 
head and a gold ring on his finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into 
his hand, at he may preside there, and may direct and defend those 
parts." 

The christening of the Prince of Wales, which was made a very impos- 
ing ceremony, took place on the 25th of January, 1842, in St. George's 
Chapel, Windsor Castle. The King of Prussia had arrived at the Castle 
three days before, on a visit to the Queen, and to stand as chief sponsor 
at the christening. He was accompanied by the famous savant, Baron 
Alexander von Humboldt. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, 
and the Bishops of London, Winchester, Oxford and Norwich, officiated 
at the baptismal ceremony. The sponsors were the King of Prussia, the 
Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge (proxy for the Duchess 
of Saxe-Coburg), and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge (proxy for the 
Princess Sophia). When the infant Prince was brought in and given 
into the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the sponsors named him 
"Albert Edward," by which names he was accordingly christened by His 
Grace. On the conclusion of the ceremony the Hallelujah Chorus was 
sung by the full choir, by request of Prince Albert, and the overture to 
Handel's oratorio of Esther was performed. The name of Albert was 
given to the young Prince, after his father, and that of Edward, after his 
maternal grandfather, the Duke of Kent. 

After the christening the Queen held a chapter of the Order of the 
Garter, when the King of Prussia, as "a lineal descendant of King George 
I,," was elected a Knight Companion, the Queen buckling the garter 
round his knee. Then followed luncheon in the White Breakfast Room, 
and in the evening there was a gTand banquet in St. George's Hall. The 
display of plate was amazing, and there was one immense gold vessel, 
described as more like a bath than anything else, capable of containing 



lU THE LABORS OF A MONARCH. 

thirty dozens of wine. To the great surprise of the Prussian visitors, it" 
was filled with mulled claret. Four toasts were drank, which were given 
by the Lord Steward, the Earl of Liverpool, in the following order : 'THis 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," "The King of Prussia," "The 
Queen," and "His Royal Highness Prince Albert." An immense royal 
christening cake was placed in the Waterloo Chamber after the banquet. 
The expenses incurred in connection with the christening ceremony and 
the subsequent festivities amounted to about £200,000. 

The Queen paid special honor and deference to her august guest, the 
King of Prussia. When she first met him, on his arrival at Windsor, she 
kissed him twice, and made him two low curtseys. In her Journal she 
writes of the King: "He was in common morning costume, and com- 
plained much of appearing so before me. He is entertaining, agreeable, 
and witty; tells a thing so pleasantly, and is full of amusing anecdotes.'" 
The King was magnificently entertained during the whole of his stay by 
the Queen, and also by many of the leading members of the aristocracy. 
He manifested great interest in the historic buildings and other sights 
of London, and was indefatigable in visiting the chief points of attrac- 
tion. 

There never was a period in Her Majesty's life when she was more 
jubilant in spirits, or more profoundly happy, than this which imme- 
diately succeeded upon the birth of the Prince of Wales. Supremely 
blessed in the choice she had made of a husband, she rejoiced to see her 
Royal Consort daily making his way in the affections of the people, and 
now that there was an heir to the crown, the Sovereign and the people 
were drawn closely together by a new and auspicious bond. The weight 
of state cares no longer pressed heavily upon her, and her cup of happi- 
ness was full even to overflowing. 




CHAPTER VI. 

FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

Terrible News from Afghanistan— A. Great Tragedy—Attempts of Francis and Bean to Shoot 
Her Majesty— The Queen's First Visit to Scotland— Birth of the Princess Alice— Tom 
Thamb a Visitor at Windsor Castle— The Emperor of Rnssia Visits the Court— Famine 
in Ireland — Chartist Meetings — ^London in Terror — Trials of Irish Agitators— Death of 
Lord Melbourne— The Queen Visits Ireland. 

, OR some years there had in the East a series of been proceeding 
events which, in the early part of 1842, eventuated in one of 
the most tragic catastrophies of modern history. Terrible news 
came from Afghanistan, where "the fatal policy of English 
interference with the fiery tribes of Northern India in support of an 
unpopular ruler had ended in the murder of Sir Alexander Burnes and 
Sir William Macnaghten, and the evacuation of Cabul by the English." 
Other disasters succeeded, chief amongst which was the destruction of 
Uer Majesty's Forty-fourth Eegiment. The soldiers were cut down 
almost to a man, and only one individual of the whole British force was 
able to reach Jellalabad. This was Dr. Brydon, who arrived there, faint 
and wounded, on the 13th of January. The story of his sufferings, as 
well as a graphic narrative of the whole campaign, is to be read in the 
journals of the period. The British army marched through the Khyber 
Pass, defeated Akbar Khan in the Tezeen Valley, and eventually reached 
Cabul, when the prisoners, long pent up within that city, were released. 
Cabul was subsequently evacuated, and Jellalabad was destroyed. The 
British arms ultimately triumphed, but only after a fearful and bloody 
campaign, in which many of the finest of their troops were cut off by a 
harassing guerrilla warfare. 

As the year opened England was also at war with China. Fortunate- 
ly, the uniform success which had attended previous hostile operations 
against that Power once more smiled upon her arms and brought the 
Celestials to reason. After the taking of Chinkeang-foo by the British, 
and the appearance of her squadron before Nankin, hostilities were sus- 
pended and negotiations for peace were entered into and concluded 
between the Chinese Commissioners and Sir Henry Pottinger. 

But the condition of things in England was very serious. Not only 

175 



176 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

was there a continuous fall in the revenue, but an ever-growing agita- 
tion throughout the country on the subject of the Corn Laws. Loud and 
general complaints were heard of depression in all the printapal branches 
of trade, accompanied by distress among the poorer classes; and after all 
allowance had been made for exaggeration there still remained a real 
and lamentable amount of misery and destitution. Though the people 
bore their sufferings Avith exemplary patience and fortitude, there could 
be no doubt that they were passing through a period of deep trial and 
privation. 

It was not, therefore, without a shadow over her happiness that the 
Queen opened Parliament in person on the 3d of February. The cere- 
mony was attended by more than usual pomp and splendor in conse- 
quence of the presence of the King of Prussia. Madame Bunsen, who 
was a spectator of the scene in the House of Lords, wrote : '"The opening 
of Parliament was the thing from which I expected most, and I was not 
disappointed. The throngs in the streets, in the windows, in every place 
people could stand upon, all looking so pleased; the splendid Horse 
Guards, the Grenadiers of the Guard, of whom might be said as the King 
said on another occasion, 'An appearance so fine, you know not how to 
believe it true,' the Yeomen of the Bodyguard ; then in the House of Lords, 
the peers in their robes, the beautifully-dressed ladies with very many 
beautiful faces; lastly, the procession of the Queen's entry, and herself, 
looking worthy and fit to be the converging point of so many rays of 
grandeur." 

Two daring attempts to assassinate the Queen were made during the 
year of 1842, within a few M^eeks of each other. The first was by a man 
named John Francis. Towards seven o'clock on the evening of May 30, 
Her Majesty and party were proceeding down Constitution Hill. When 
about half way down the would-be assassin was ^een to take a pistol from 
his side and to fire it in the direction of the royal carriage, from which 
he was distant not more than seven feet. The Queen manifested her 
usual courageous demeanor under the outrage. Francis was immediately 
seized by Private Allen, of the Fusilier Guards and Police Constable 
Turner, who was attempting to dash the pistol out of his hand Avhen the 
shot was fired. The culprit was taken to the lodge adjoining the palace, 
where he was searched, and a ball, with a little powder, and the still warai 
pistol, were taken from his person. The man maintained a dogged 
silence as to his motive, and refused to give any explanation about his 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 177 

antecedents; but it was subsequently ascertained that he was the son of 
a machinist in Drury Lane Theater, and had for some months been out of 
employment When the news of the outrage reached the Houses of Par- 
liament, both Lords and Commons adjourned in confusion, as it was 
found impossible to carry on the public business amidst the excitement 
which the attempt occasioned. 

All concurrent accounts speak of the admirable bravery and presence 
of mind of the Queen. It appears that on the previous Sunday, while the 
Queen and Prince were driving along the Mall, having been to service at 
the Chapel Eoyal, St. James'j Prince Albert saw a man step out of the 
crowd of cheering spectators and present a pistol at him. Happily, the 
pistol did not go off, and the Queen, who was bowing to the people on 
the other side, neither heard nor saw anything. As the Prince's own 
knowledge of the attempt was corroborated by an independent witness, 
Her Majesty was apprised of the occurrence. The Prince, in afterwards 
writing to his father, said that both he and the Queen were naturally 
much agitated, and that his wife had become nervous and unwell. Her 
Majesty's doctor desired her to continue going out, however. The Queen 
herself was strongly in favor of this. She "never could have existed," she 
herself said afterwards, "under the uncertainty of a concealed attack. 
She would much rather run the immediate risk at any time than have 
the presentiment of danger constantly hovering over her." But with that 
generous consideration which has always distinguished her, she would 
not permit her female attendants to accompany her, in accordance with 
the usual practice, on her dangerous drive. Lady Bloomfleld, who was 
then Miss Liddell, one of the maids-of-honor in waiting, has described 
how Her Majesty's attendants waited at home all the afternoon, expect- 
ing a summons, which never came, to go the usual drive. The Queen 
went out with the Prince alone, and when they came back the news of 
the dastardly attempt spread through the palace. To Miss Liddell her 
royal mistress said: "I dare say, Georgy, you were surprised at not 
driving with me this afternoon, but the fact was, that as we returned 
from church yesterday a man presented a. pistol at the carriage window, 
which flashed in the pan ; we were so taken by surprise that he had time 
to escape; so I knew what was hanging over me, and I was determined 
to expose no life but my own." The Queen and her husband had driven 
out by Hampstead, being warmly cheered along the route, and had nearly 
accomplished the return journey, when between the Green Park and the 



178 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

garden wall, and just opposite to where Oxford had made his attempt 
two years before, the miscreant Francis, who was lying in wait, fix^d his 
pistol, being then about five or seven paces off. The Prince at once 
recognized the man as the same "little swarthy ill-looking rascal" who 
had made the abortive attempt on the preceding day 

Her Majesty attended the Royal Italian opera on the evening of the 
attempt, desirous of showing herself as early as possible to her subjects. 
There was a scene of extraordinary enthusiasm, and the national anthem 
was performed to the accompaniment of repeated bursts of cheering. On 
the following day congratulatory addresses were voted by both Houses 
of Parliament to the Queen on her escape from assassination; and 
numerous similar addresses were subsequently forwarded by corporate 
bodies throughout the Kingdom. 

The trial of John Francis for shooting at the Queen took place on 
June 17, when the prisoner was found guilty and sentenced to death. 
On the conclusion of Chief Justice Tindall's address, Francis fell insen- 
sible into the arms of one of the turnkeys, and in that state was carried 
out of the court. The Queen directed a reprieve of the sentence, although 
she was "fully conscious of the encouragement to similar attempts which 
might follow from such leniency." The death sentence on Francis was 
commuted to transportation for life, and he was sent out to Tasmania. 

On the very day following this noble exercise of the royal clemency 
■ — that is Sunday, the 3rd of July — another daring attempt was made to 
shoot the Queen. It occurred while she was driving to the Chapel Royal, 
St. James', accompanied by her uncle the King of the Belgians. A 
deformed youth, named John William Bean, leveled a pistol at the Queen 
and attempted to fire it. The pistol was loaded, but very fortunately 
did not go off. The hunchback was seized by a youth named Dassett, 
but the police at first treated the thing as a joke. But when Dassett 
was in danger of being arrested as the actual culprit, witnesses came 
forward who proved the real state of the case. The pistol was found 
to contain only powder, paper, and some bits of a tobacco-pipe, rammed 
together. It was also discovered that Bean, who was a chemist's assist- 
ant, had written a letter to his father stating that he "would never see 
him again, as he intended doing something which was not dishonest, but 
desperate." 

The Queen had no knowledge of Bean's attempt until her return to 
the palace, and when apprised of it she betrayed no alarm, but said, "she 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 179 

had expected a rei3etition of tlie attempts on her life so long as the law 
remained unaltered by which, they could be dealt with only as acts oi 
high treason." In the Life of the Prince Consort we read : "Sir Robert 
Peel hurried up from Cambridge, on hearing what had occurred, to con- 
sult with the Prince as to the steps to be taken. During this interview 
Her Majesty entered the room, when the Minister, in public so cold and 
self-controlled, in reality so full of genuine feeling, out of his very man- 
liness, was unable to control his emotion, and burst into tears." 

Although a harebrained love of notoriety had quite as much to do 
with these attempts as any desire to kill, it had now become absolutely 
necessary to pass some law to meet such alarming offenses against the 
person of the Sovereign. Accordingly, on the 12th of July the Premier 
introduced a Bill into Parliament making attempts on the Queen's life 
punishable as high misdemeanors by transportation for seven yeears, 
or imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for a period not exceeding 
three years. Further the culprit was to be publicly or privately whipped 
as often and in such manner and form as the court should direct, not 
exceeding thrice. This measure became law on the 16th. Bean was 
brought to trial on the 25th of August following, at the Central Criminal 
Court. The i^istol having missed fire, the capital charge was aban- 
doned, and the hunchback was tried for misdemeanor. He was convicted 
upon this charge, and Lord Abinger sentenced him to eighteen months' 
imprisonment in Newgate. 

To the anxiety caused by these dastardly attempts upon the life of the 
Sovereign succeeded a sad incident which caused deep grief to the Queen 
and her husband. On the 13th of July intelligence was received in Lon- 
don to the effect that the Duke of Orleans, while riding in his carriage, 
was suddenly thrown from it and killed on the spot. Her Majesty was 
much affected on receiving this deplorable news, and wrote an autograph 
letter of condolence to the royal family of France. 

In the autumn of 1842 the Queen paid her first visit to Scotland, 
accompanied by the Prince. She traveled by water, and was received at 
Granton pier by the Duke of Buccleuch, driving through Edinburgh to 
Dalkeith Palace. The new experiences of the first visit paid outside 
her native land delighted the Queen, and found very graphic expression 
in her Highland Journal. Nothing escaped her quick eyes: the many- 
storied houses of the Old Town, the aged crones standing at the doors 
in their white mutches, the bare-footed lads and lassies, the fishwives in 



180 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

their short petticoats, with the "caller herrin', fresh drawn frae the Forth" 
in kreels upon their backs, and all the sights of the historic town were 
quickly noted down. Her Majesty took oatmeal porridge at her break- 
fast, tried the "Finnan baddies," and pronounced the homely Scottish 
fure excellent. She held a reception at Holyrood Palace, and a levee 
at Dalkeith House, visited Lord Rosebery (grandfather of the present 
Earl) at Dalmeny, and journeyed farther north to the Highlands, visit- 
ing all the places of interest en route. Scott was constantly in her hand, 
and she delighted to- verify the places and scenes of which he wrote. 
Never probably had the Queen so enjoyed a holiday. She roamed about 
the lochs and glens, made friends with the old women in the cottages, 
and enjoyed a freedom which was absolutely new to her. Great was 
her amusement to see the astonishment of one old woman, when told 
that the young lady to whom she had given floAvers from her garden was 
the Queen. The ancient dame rubbed up her best English, and endeav- 
ored to make Her Majesty understand that she was "richt" welcome to 
Scotland. There were torchlight dances, and reels and strathspeys for 
the entertainment of the royal visitors, with all of which the Queen was 
greatly pleased, and at the close of the tour she confessed to having 
become quite fond of hearing the bagpipes. 

Everywhere she was received with enthusiasm, and many are the 
stories told of the criticisms, full of pawky humor, offered by the crowd. 
A gentleman in Edinburgh said to his farm-servant, "Well, John, did you 
see the Queen?" "Troth did I that, sir. I was terrible 'feared afore she 
came forrit — my heart was maist in my mouth, but when she did come 
forrit, I was na feared at a' ; I just lookit at her, and she lookit at me, 
an' she bowed her held at me, an' I bowed my held at her. She's a raal fine 
leddie, wi'oot a bit o' pride aboot her at a'." The Queen quitted Scotland 
on the 15th of September, after staying a fortnight. "As the fair shores 
of Scotland receded more and more from our view," she writes in her 
journal, "we felt quite sad that this very pleasant and interesting tour 
was over ; but we shall never forget it." 

After their return home, the Queen and the Prince took their two 
little children on a visit to the Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle, to 
get the sea air. While here, the Queen received the important and grati- 
fying intelligence of the re-conquest of Afghanistan by British troops, as 
well as the news of the conclusion of peace with China. 

When Parliament assembled on the 1st of February, 1843, the Queen 




German Emperor William II. and Family 

The above picture is one of the best ever taken of this charming family. 
Emperor William is a son of the Empress Dowager Frederick and a grandson 
of Queen Victoria. He ascended the throne June 15. 1888. The boy whom the 
mother has her arm around is the Crown Prince Frederick William. 




Duke of York 

George, the Duke of York and Duke of Cornwall, is the second and only surviving son of 
King Edward VII. He married Princess May of Teck, July 6, 1893, and has now two sons, 
Edward and Albert, and a daughter. Princess Victoria. 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 188 

was unable, for the first time since her accession, to open it in person. 

Another daughter was born to Her Majesty at Bilckingham Palace 
on the 25th of April. The Prince Consort was present; but, with the 
exception of the Earl of Liverpool, Lord Steward of the Household, all 
the official personages arrived too late. They came just in time to see the 
first bulletin, and then left again, the Queen and infant being reported 
as progressing most favorably. The infant Princess was christened on 
the 2nd of June, and received the names of Alice Maud Mary. The 
sponsors were the King of Hanover, Prince Ernest, the Princess Sophia 
Matilda, and Princess Feodore. The child grew up to be an especial 
favorite with the English people, who sympathized deeply with her in 
the many sorrows which marked her married life. 

An accident occurred to Her Majesty on the 5th of January, 1844, 
but happily it was not attended with serious results. The Queen, 
attended by the Marchioness of Douro, left Windsor in an open pony- 
phaeton and pair, driven by a postilion, in order to be present at the 
meeting of Prince Albert's harriers at the Manor House at Horton. The 
driver took too short a turn in entering the road near the Five Bells, 
and the near wheel of the carriage, from the rottenness of the side of the 
road — occasioned by a rapid thaw — sank into the ditch. The carriage 
was thrown against the hedge; the horse upon which the postilion was 
riding sinking in from the same cause. Her Majesty and the Marchioness 
of Douro were rescued from their perilous position by Colonel Arbuth- 
not, who was in attendance on horseback. The Queen accepted the offer 
of a pony-carriage belonging to Mr. Holderness, of Horton, and was 
driven back to Windsor, while a messenger was despatched for the 
Prince Consort. Some laborers who assisted in getting the carriage 
out of the ditch were liberally rewarded by command of the Queen. 

The first public statue of Her Majesty which had been erected in any 
part of her dominions was unveiled at Edinburgh on the 24th of Janu- 
ary, in this year. It was a colossal statue by Mr. (afterwards Sir John) 
Steell, and it was placed in position on the colonnade of the Royal Insti- 
tution, fronting Prince's Street. From the high elevation of the pedestal, 
the gigantic figure, which was nearly four times life size, assumed to the 
spectators almost natural proportions, and harmonized with the massive 
building on which it was placed. The whole composition was modeled 
on the severest principles of Grecian art, and it still remains a classic 
conception of much grandeur. Her Majesty is represented seated on a 



184 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

throne, with the diadem on her brow, while her right hand grasps the 
scepter, and her left leans on the orb, emblematic of her extended sway. 

On the 1st of February the Queen opened Parliament in person. The 
Irish Eepeal agitation was at this time causing much concern, and state 
trials were proceeding in^ Dublin. Daniel and John O'Oonnell and six 
other prisoners were charged with conspiracy in endeavoring to obtain a 
repeal of the union between Great Britain and Ireland. Her Majesty, 
in receiving an address on the 2nd of February from the Corporation of 
Dublin, said : "I receive with satisfaction the assurance that sentiments 
of loyalty and attachment to my person continue to be cherished by you. 
The legal proceedings to which you refer are now in progress before a 
competent tribunal, and I am unwilling to interrupt the administration 
of justice according to law." O'Connell and his fellow-agitators were 
convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment; but an appeal 
being made to the House of Lords, the judgment was reversed. The 
Repeal agitation, however, did not flourish after the trial. 

A curious but important domestic reform was inaugurated in the 
royal household at Windsor early this year. At the suggestion of Her 
Majesty, all the unused bread of the various, departments, which 
amounted to an enormous quantity in the course of the year, and which 
had hitherto been disposed of in an unsatisfactory manner, was directed 
to be given in the future to the inmates of the several almshouses within 
the burgh of Windsor. A visitor at the Castle has referred to the enor- 
mous preparation and expense which were going forward every day, and' 
to the strange sight which the royal kitchen almost daily presented. "The 
fire was more like Nebuchadnezzar's 'burning fiery furnace' than any- 
thing else I can think of; and though there is now no company at Wind- 
sor, there were at least fifteen or twenty large joints of meat roasting. 
Charles Murray told me that last year they fed at dinner 113,000 people. 
It sounds perfectly incredible ; but every day a correct list is kept of the 
number of mouths fed; and this does not include the ball suppers, etc., 
etc., but merely dinners." 

A distinguished visitor arrived at Windsor in March, in the person 
of General Tom Thumb. He was under the charge of his guardian, the 
enterprising Barnum, and the General afforded much entertainment to 
Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent and the members of 
the royal household by his extraordinary intellectual display. It was 
stated that his smart replies to the various questions put to him by the 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 185 

Queen caused great astonishment. Mr. Barnum subsequently wrote 
that "surprise and pleasure were depicted on the countenances of the 
royal circle at beholding this remarkable specimen of humanity so much 
smaller than tbey had eyidently expected to find him." The General 
advanced with a firm step, and as he came within hailing distance, made 
a very graceful bow, and exclaimed : "Good evening^ ladies and gentle- 
men !" A burst of laughter followed this salutation. 

The Queen then took him by the hand, led him about the gallery, and 
asked him many questions, the answers to which kept the party in an 
uninterrupted state of merriment. The General familiarly informed the 
Queen that her picture gallery was "first rate," and told her he should 
like to see the Prince of Wales. The Queen replied that the Prince had 
retired to rest, but that he should see him on some future occasion. The 
General gave them his songs, dances and recitations; and after a con- 
versation with Prince Albert and all present, which lasted for more than 
an hour, he was permitted to depart. As he retired, the General was 
startled by the barking of the Queen's favorite poodle, and he at once 
began an attack upon that animal with his little cane. A funny fight 
ensued, greatly to the merriment of the royal party. A lord-in-w^aiting 
expressed a hope that the General had sustained no damage in the 
encounter, adding playfully that in case of injury to so renowned a 
personage he should fear a declaration of war by the United States. 

In April General Tom Thumb paid a second and a third visit to Buck- 
ingham Palace by command of the Queen. The second visit was espe- 
cially interesting and amusing, and it has thus been described by Mr, 
Barnum in his volume entitled Struggles and Triumphs : 

"We were received in what is called the 'Yellow Drawing-room,' a 
magnificent apartment, surpassing in splendor and gorgeousness any- 
thing of the kind I had ever seen. It is on the north side of the gallery, 
and is entered from that apartment. It was hung with drapery of rich 
yellow satin damask, the couches, sofas and chairs being covered witli 
the same material. The vases, urns and ornaments were all of modern 
patterns and the most exquisite workmanship. The room was paneled 
in gold, and the hea^-y cornices beautifully carved and gilt. The tables, 
pianos, etc., were mounted with gold inlaid with pearl of various hues^, 
and of the most elegant designs. 

"We were ushered into this gorgeous drawing-room before the Queen 
and royal circle had left the dining-room; and as they approached the 



186 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

Greneral bowed respectfully, aud remarked to Her Majesty that ^lie had" 
seen her before;' adding: 1 think this is a prettier room than the picture 
gallery; that chandelier is very fine.' 

"The Queen took him by the hand, and said she hoped he was very 
well. 

" 'Yes, madam,' he replied ; 'I am first-rate.' 

" 'General,' continued the Queen, 'this is the Prince of Wales.' 

" 'How are you. Prince?' said the General, shaking him by the hand; 
and then, standing beside the Prince, he remarked : 'The Prince is taller 
than I am; but I feel as big as anybody;' upon which he strutted up and 
down the room as proud as a peacock, amidst shouts of laughter from all 
present. 

"The Queen then introduced the Princess Royal, and the General 
immediately led her to his elegant little sofa, which we took with us, and 
with much politeness sat himself down beside her. Then, rising from 
his seat, he went through his various performances, and the Queen 
handed him an elegant and costly souvenir, which had been expressly 
made for him by her order, for which he told her 'he was very much 
obliged, and would keep it as long as he lived.' The Queen of the Belgians 
(daughter of King Louis Philippe) was present on this occasion." 

On the third visit, King Leopold was present, and he put a multitude 
of questions to Tom Thumb. The General was dressed in a full Court 
suit. Queen Victoria desired him to sing a song, and asked him what 
song he preferred to sing. "Yankee Doodle," was the prompt reply. 
This answer was as unexpected by Mr. Barnum as it was by the royal 
party. When the merriment which it occasioned had subsided, the Queen 
good-humoredly remarked: "That is a very pretty song, General; sing 
it, if you please." The General complied, and shortly afterwards took 
leave of his delighted and distinguished audience. The souvenir which 
Her Majesty gave to Tom Thumb was very superb, being of mother-of- 
pearl set with rubies, and bearing a crown and the royal initials, "V. E." 
After each visit also a handsome sum was presented to Mr. Barnum. 

The great Court event of the year w^as the visit of the Emperor of 
Russia — the hard, cold, cruel, handsome and imposing Nicholas. He 
was just in the prime of life, and struck every one by the grandeur of 
his bearing, though he must have thrown the officials of the royal house- 
hold into a flutter, seeing that he slept upon straw, and always took with 
Uim a leathern case, which, at every stage of his journey, was filled with 



FAMILY LIFE 'AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 187 

fresh straw from the stables. This strange potentate won upon the 
woman's heart of the Queen by his unstinted praise of heT husband. 
^'Nowhere/' he said, "will you find a handsomer young man ; he has such 
an air of nobility and goodness." There must really have been little in 
common, however, between the Kussian Bear and the gentle-natured 
Prince Albert. 

The Emperor came in the Russian warship Cyclops, and landed at 
AVoolwich on the 1st of June. He drove straight to the Eussian Embassy. 
The King of Saxony also arrived on the same day at Buckingliam Palace 
on a visit to Her Majesty. On the 2nd, Prince Albert went to call upon 
the Emperor at the Russian Embassy, and the two illustrious personages 
met on the grand staircase. Their greeting was of the most affectionate 
and cordial kind. The Czar threw his arms around the neck of the Prince 
and embraced him fervently, Prince Albert returning the salute. Very 
scant notice had been given of the Emperor's visit, but Her Majesty 
expressed a strong hope that he would take up his abode at Buckingham 
Palace, and this he did after some days spent at Windsor. The Emperor 
paid visits to the various members of the royal family, and also to the 
Uuke of Wellington, evincing the deepest interest in the veteran soldier. 

On the 4th, the Emperor, the King of Saxony and Prince Albert wit- 
nessed the races at Ascot, and on the following day there was a grand 
military review in the Great Park at Windsor. The greatest enthusiasm 
was manifested for the Iron Duke, who really attracted more attention 
that the Czar; but Wellington took off his hat, and, waving it in the air, 
said to the people very earnestly : "No, no ! not me — the Emperor ! the 
Emperor!" The people then warmly cheered the Czar. During the 
inspection of troops, the Emperor was most keenly interested in the 
Seventeenth Lancers and Forty-seventh Foot. He surveyed them 
minutely, saying that he wished to see the regiments which had fought 
and gained England's battles in India. On the approach of the Life 
Guards, the Duke of Wellington put himself at the head of his regiment, 
and advanced with it before Her Majesty; the spectacle calling forth an 
exhibition of unusual enthusiasm. 

The Queen gave birth to a son on the 6th of August at Windsor 
Castle. The event was scarcely expected so soon, and only three hours 
before. Her Majesty had signed the Commission for giving the royal 
assent to various bills. The Queen's happy delivery was announced in 
the Times in i)recisely forty minutes after it had taken place at Windsor 



188 FAMILY LIFE 'AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

Castle; and as that was the first occasion on which the electric telegraph 
had been so used, the rapid publication of the news was considered very 
surpi'ising. The young Prince was christened on the 6th of September 
in the names of Alfred Ernest Albert, being afterwards created Duke of 
Edinburgh. 

The Queen had inteided visiting Ireland in the summer of 1844, but 
the unsettled condition of the country rendered this inadvisable, and 
a second visit to Scotland took the place of the projected Irish tour. This 
journey to the North was most delightful and refreshing to the royal 
travelers, the Queen leaving behind her the cares of her position. 

Louis Philippe, King of the French, arrived at Windsor Castle on 
the 8th of October, on a visit to Her Majesty. It was an event of gi-eat 
national interest and importance, for that distinguished yet unfortunate 
Sovereign was the first and only French monarch who had ever landed 
in the British Islands on a visit of peace and amity. The British nation 
hailed him with the heartiest demonstrations of welcome. 

London saw^ a splendid show on the 28th of October, when .he Queen 
opened the new Royal Exchange. The procession was magnificent and 
very similar to the one at the Coronation. From Buckingham Palace 
to the Exchange every place, hole or cranny Avhich commanded the small- 
est view of the route was crammed to suffocation. The Lord Mayor and 
Aldermen met the Queen at Temple Bar at twelve and escorted her to 
her destination. On alighting at the Exchange, she walked round the 
colonnade, and through the inner court. She then went upstairs, and 
walked through the second banqueting-hall to show herself, subsequently 
receiving an address in a small room prepared for the purpose. After 
the address she created the Lord Mayor (Sir William Magnay) a baro- 
net, A few hours before His Lordship had been in the most pitiable 
distress, for in going to receive Her Majesty he had put on an enormout; 
pair of jack-boots to protect himself from the mud; and as the Queen 
approached he was unable to get them off — or at least one of them. He 
had one on and one off just as the Sovereign was about to draw up at 
Temple Bar, and in an agony of fright he ordered the attendants, who 
Avere tugging at the immovable boot, to let it alone and to replace the 
other one, which they did. These boots he was compelled to wear until 
after the ceremony. 

At Windsor Castle, on the 30th of October, the Queen received Sir 
IJobert and Lady Sale; and Her Majesty heard from the lips of the heroic 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 189 

lady a narrative of the privations to which she and other captives had 
been exposed in Afghanistan. Lady Sale went through fearful hardships 
during the disastrous retreat from Cahul. She was severely wounded on 
the second day of the march, and for nine days she was compelled to wear 
a habit that was like a sheet of solid ice, for, having been wet through, it 
had afterwards frozen. She was in captivity ten months, with her 
daughter, Mrs. Sturt, and the latter was confined of a child during the 
time in a tiny room without light or air. The baby lived, however, not- 
withstanding that its mother and Lady Sale were frequently twenty-four 
liours without food. Akhbar Khan treated them cruelly while pretend- 
ing to be their friend. He said he would sooner part with all his prison- 
ers than Lady Sale, for "she was the only hold he had upon her devil of 
a husband." 

After the opening of Parliament in February, 1845, the Queen and 
the Prince Consort went down to Brighton to make a short stay at the 
Pavilion. From thence they visited Arundel Castle and Buxted Park. 
During her stay at Brighton the Queen was exposed to gTcat annoyance 
in consequence of the rude behavior of the crowd, which lay in wait to 
follow her in her walk from the Pavilion to the pier. She was very glad 
when the time came for taking possession of Osborne, which she and the 
Prince did on the 29th of March following. The park and grounds 
attached to this marine residence comprised upwards of 300 acres, chiefly 
sloping to the east, and well stocked with noble timber. The views from 
Osborne are very extensive, commanding Portsmouth, Spithead, etc. A 
new mansion was subsequently built for the Queen in lieu of the old 
house. 

The Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the Lords of the 
Admiralty, inspected the Experimental Squadron at Spithead on the 
21st of June. It was a splendid spectacle to see the noble vessels as they 
got under way. The warships off Spithead at this time had a total of 926 
guns, 26,208 tons; being 6,412 tons more than the fleet amounted to with 
which England won the battle of the Nile. After the evolutions, the 
Queen passed through the squadron on her return to Cowes, much grati- 
fied by the ^h play she had witnessed. 

Her Majesty prorogued Parliament on the 9th of August, and on the 
evening of the same day set out with the Prince Consort on her first visit 
to Germany. Such a tour must have had special interest for her, seeing 
that Germany was not only her husband's country, but that of her mother 



190 FAMILY LIFE, AND NATIONAL DUTIES. ' 

also. The royal party left Woolwich in the Fairy, the Queen's new yacht. 

On Septemher 10, Her Majesty and the Prince returned to English 
shores, and went immediately to Osborne, where a joyous welcome 
awaited them ; "for there, looking like roses, so well and so fat, stood the 
four children." The Queen has left it on record that this visit to Ger- 
many was one of the most exquisite periods of enjoyment in her whole 
life. 

The ensuing winter of 1845-6 was a disastrous one in some respects 
in England's domestic history. There the railway mania had hurried 
many into ruin, while in Ireland there was fearful destitution through 
the failure of the potato crop. The settlement of the great corn-law ques- 
tion was seen to be imperative towards the close of 1845, and Sir Robert 
Peel resigned oflQce in order that Lord John Russell and the Whigs 
might come in and grapple with this long-vexed question. Lord John 
was unable to form a Ministry, however, and on the 5th of December 
Sir Robert Peel returned to power. He courageously resolved to abolish 
the corn-laws, and although by doing so he incurred great odium with 
his party, the country generally acknowledged with gratitude his great 
and disinterested services. The obnoxious corn-laws were swept away, 
and Peel's action was more than justified by subsequent events. 

During the thick of the political conflict the Queen gave birth, at 
Buckingham Palace, on the 25th of May, to her third daughter. Princess 
Helena, afterwards Princess Christian. 

In the closing days of June the Government was defeated on its Irish 
Coercion Bill, a measure to check assassination in Ireland, and on the 
6th of July the Prime Minister resigned office. The Queen felt the part- 
ing with Peel and Lord Aberdeen most keenly. Writing to King Leopold 
on the 7th she said : "Yesterday wasi a very hard day for me. I had to 
part from Sir Robert Peel and Lord Aberdeen, who are irreparable 
losses to us and to the country. They were both so much overcome that 
it quite upset me. We have in them two devoted friends : we felt so safe 
with them. Never during the five years that they were with me did they 
ever recommend a person or a thing that was not for my or the country's 
best; and never for the party's advantage only. * * * I cannot tell 
you how sad I am to lose Aberdeen ; you cannot think what a delightful 
companion he was. The breaking-up of all this intercourse during our 
journeys is deplorable." But the Queen had still one person on whose 
counsel she coiild rely, and one far dearer to her than her Ministers. 



FAMILY. LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 191 

"Albert's use to me, and I may say to the country, by his firmness ami 
isagacity in these moments of trial, is beyond all belief." 

The year 1847 opened very gloomily. The commercial depression 
from which the country had been suffering had been further aggravated, 
while the ravages of the potato disease had reduced the people of Ireland 
to a terrible condition of starvation and disease. Consequently when 
Her Majesty opened Parliament in person on the 19th of January, the 
royal speech was not a cheerful document. Fortunately, foreign affairs 
were in a satisfactory condition, and as to domestic difficulties, the 
Government of Lord John Russell took prompt measures for relieving 
the distress in Ireland. They also brought in a new Irish Poor Law 
measure, which was quickly passed, together with other remedial legisla- 
tion. 

But the season in London, always inexorable, was not without its 
gayeties. The theater saw the reappearance of Fanny Kemble, whilst at 
the Italian Opera a new prima donna appeared, concerning whom the 
Queen thus wrote : "Her acting alone is worth going to see, and the piano 
way she has of singing, Lablache says, is unlike anything he ever heard. 
He is quite enchanted. There is a purity in her singing and acting whicii 
is quite indescribable." The new operatic star which thus suddenly 
came upon the horizon was that popular favorite, Jenny Lind. 

Prince Albert was elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 
on the 28th of February, receiving 953 votes as against 837 given to his 
opponent, the Earl of Powis. The installation of the Prince took place 
on the 6th of July, amid circumstances of great pomp and splendor. Her 
Majesty being present at the investiture. The ceremony was performed 
in the hall of Trinity College. The journals reported that the Queen, 
being seated on a chair of state on the dais, the new Chancellor (in his 
gorgeous robes of office), supported by the Duke of Wellington (Chancel- 
lor of the sister University of Oxford), the Bishop of Oxford, the Vice- 
Chancellor of Cambridge and heads of houses approached, when the 
Chancellor read an address to Her Majesty, congratulatory on her 
arrival. The Queen made a gracious reply, and the Prince retired with 
the usual profound obeisances — a proceeding which caused Her Majesty 
some amusement. 

The year 1848 was one of great upheaval amongst the States of 
Europe. Prance was the first to feel the force of the revolutionary move- 
ment. The policy of Louis Philippe, and especially his intrigues with a 
view to Bourbon aggrandizement, had long rendered the King very 



193 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

unpopular. The public discontent now found vent in revolution, and 
the dynasty was swept away, and a Republic proclaimed. 

The proud monarch and his family fled from Paris, and became fugi- 
tives and wanderers. The King succeeded in escaping to England, and 
landed at Newhaven in the name of "John Smith." Before his arrival 
the Queen had written to King Leopold : "About the King and Queen 
(Louis Philippe and Queeu Am^lie) we still know nothing. We do every- 
thing we can for the poor family, who are indeed sorely to be pitied ; but 
you will naturally understand that we cannot make common cause with 
them, and cannot take a hostile position to the new state of things ia 
France. We leave them alone ; but if a government which has the appro- 
bation of the country be formed, we shall feel it neces>sary to recognize 
it, in order to pin them down to maintain peace and the existing treaties, 
which is of the greatest importance. It will not be pleasant to do this, 
but the public good and the peace of Europe go before one's personal 
feelings." 

After Louis Philippe arrived at Claremont, he paid a private visit to 
the Queen, by whom he was received in the most affectionate and hospit- 
able manner ; and this was her attitude towards the whole of the members 
of the Orleans family. "You know my love for the family," wrote Her 
jMajesty to Baron Stockmar ; "you know how I longed to get on terms 
with them again, and you said, ^Time alone will, but certainly, bring it 
about.' Little did I dream that this would be the way we should meet 
again and see each other, all in the most friendly way. That the Duchess 
de Montpensier, about whom we have been quarreling for the last year 
and a half, should be here as a fugitive, and dressed in the clothes I sent 
her, and should come to thank me for my kindness, is a reverse of for- 
twne which no novelist would devise, and upon which one could moralize 
forever." Some regret must surely have passed through the mind of 
Louis Philippe himself, that he had not striven to govern like the Sov- 
ereign of England, upon strict constitutional principles. 

The effects of the revolutionary spirit were felt in other countries — 
Italy, Spain, Prussia and Austria; but in Belgium the attempts to incite 
the people against the monarchy proved abortive, and the throne of Her 
Majesty's uncle remained secure. This, however, was not the case with 
her brother and brother-in-law, the Princes of Leiningen and Hohenlohe, 
who were compelled to abdicate their seignorial rights. 

In the midst of the general solicitude for the peace of England during 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 19S 

this time of convulsion the Queen was delivered of her fourth daughter, 
the Princess Louise. The royal infant was christened at Buckingham 
Palace on the 13th of May following, receiving the names of Louise Caro- 
line Alberta, the first being the name of the child's grandmother on the 
father's side, and the last being the feminine form of her father's name. 

Chartist disturbances were expected at this time, and there was con- 
siderable discontent over the income tax and the increased grants for 
the army and navy. On March 13 a Chartist meeting was held on Ken- 
sington Common, but it did not prove itself so formidable as had been 
anticipated. Great preparations were made, however, in view of pos- 
sible outbreaks, and disturbances occurred in the north of England, and 
also in London. But the military and other authorities acted witli 
promptitude, and the leaders of the movement having been arrested, the 
agitation subsided. The excitement in London, nevertheless, was at one 
time so great that nearly 200,000 special constables were sworn in, 
amongst them being Prince Louis Napoleon (afterwards Emperor of the 
French) and the Earl of Derby. When the danger was all over the Queen 
wrote to King Leopold: "The Chartist meeting and procession have 
turned out a complete failure. The loyalty of the people at large has 
been very striking, and their indignation at their peace being interfered 
Vvith by such wanton and worthless men, immense." Irish agitation gave 
a good deal of trouble at this time, and eventually the three most promi- 
nent leaders, Mitchell, Meagher and Smith O'Brien, were brought to trial 
for sedition. No conviction was obtained in the cases of Meagher and 
O'Brien, but Mitchell was found guilty and transported for fourteen 
years. 

By way of showing the immense labor which devolved upon the Queen 
and Prince Albert, as well as the Foreign Secretary, during this year of 
trial and anxiety, it is stated that "no less than twenty-eight thousand 
dispatches were received by or se»t out from the Foreign Office." 

The Queen prorogued Parliament in person on the 5th of September 
and on the afternoon of the same day Her Majesty and the Prince Con- 
sort, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and Prince 
Alfred, embarked in the royal yacht at Woolwich for Scotlaud. Their 
destination on this occasion was Balmoral Castle, which on the recom- 
mendation of Sir James Clark, Prince Albert had leased from the Earl 
of Aberdeen. The royal squadron entered Aberdeen Harbor on the 7th 
and on the following day Her Majesty proceeded, amidst the most loyal 



194 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

demonstrations, to Balmoral. The place seems to have created a favor- 
able impression upon the royal visitors from the first. "It is a pretty 
little castle, in the old Scottish style," remarked the Queen, in her Jour- 
nal. "There is a picturesque tower and garden in the front, with a high 
wooded hill ; at the back there is a wood down to the Dee, and the hills 
rise all around." 

Sport and riding were the order of the day, and on the 16th the Queen 
ascended Loch-na-Garr on a pony led by Mr. Farquharson's head-keeper, 
Macdonald. Prince Albert endeavored to stalk a deer, but in vain, and 
then he would occasionally make a detour after ptarmigan. When Her 
^lajesty had nearly reached the top of the mountain, the mist drifted in 
thick clouds, so as to hide everything not within a hundred yards or so. 
The ascent was determinedly finished, however; but when the visitors 
descended, the wind blew a hurricane, and they were almost blinded 
with the mist. Another day was devoted to a "drive" in the picturesque 
wood of Balloch Buie, where Prince Albert shot a magnificent stag. The 
sport was successful, and every one was delighted, Macdonald and the 
keepers in particular; the former saying that "it was Her Majesty's com- 
ing out that had brought the good luck." The Queen was supposed t"o 
have "a lucky foot," of which the Highlanders think a great deal. 

During Her Majesty's stay in Scotland important events were trans- 
piring abroad. England was comparatively quiet, though the sudden 
death of the Conservative leader. Lord George Bentinck, caused great 
sensation. In France, Prince Louis Napoleon had been elected by no 
fewer than five departments to the new French Chamber, while news 
came from Frankfort of a terrible riot in which two members of the 
German States Union were assassinated. 

The royal party at Balmoral attended a "gathering of the clans" at 
Invercauld, and were much interested in the wild and manly sports of 
the Highlanders. On the 28th, the Court left Balmoral for the south. 
Only a stay of a day was made in London, however, and then the Queen 
and her family proceeded to Osborne. In returning from their marine 
residence on the 9th of October, the royal party witnessed a sad accident 
in the Channel. The Queen's yacht passed the frigate Grampus, which 
had just returned from her station in the Pacific. The day was misty and 
stormy, but five women, relatives of the men on board the Grampus, had 
gone out in a small boat to meet them, being rowed by two watermen. A 
sudden squall swamped the boat, without the knowledge of any one on 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 195 

boaid the two vessels. The men on board a Custom-house boat, however, 
perceived a man elinging to the capsized boat, and immediately came to 
render assistance. Prince Albert was the first person on board the Fairy 
to realize what had occurred. The Queen was quite overcome. The royal 
yacht was stopped, and one of its boats lowered, which picked up three 
women, two of whom were unfortunately dead. The storm was very vio- 
lent, and Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, the commander of the Queen's 
yacht, having decided that nothing further could be done, held on his 
course, affirming that it would be very unsafe to delay. The Queen and 
Prince Albert were strongly in favor of staying, and Her Majesty felt 
the sad incident very much, for she wrote afterguards : "It was a dread- 
ful moment ; too horrid to describe. It is a consolation to think we were 
of some use, and also that, even if the yacht had remained, they could not 
have done more. Still, we all keep feeling we might, though I think we 
could not. It is a terrible thing, and haunts me continually." 

In the ensuing month of November, Lord Melbourne, the Queen's 
first Minister — and a man to whom she had become much attached, in 
consequence of his almost paternal devotion to her in her early youth — 
passed away, having been for some time in seclusion. Her Majesty wrote 
concerning him : "Truly and sincerely do I deplore the loss of one who 
was a most disinterested friend of mine, and most sincerely attached to 
me. He was, indeed, for the first two years and a half of my reign almost 
the only friend I had, except Stockmar and Lehzen, and I used to see him 
constantly — daily. I thought much and talked much of him all day." 
The Queen also wrote in her Journal a day or two subsequently: "I 
received a pretty and touching letter from Lady Palmerston, saying that 
my last letter to poor Lord Melbourne had been a great comfort and 
relief to him, and that during the last melancholy years of his life we had 
often been the chief means of cheering him up. This is a great satisfac- 
tion to me to hear." 

Parliament was opened by the Queen in person, on the 2nd of Feb- 
ruary, and, in addition to its reference to the continued Irish distress 
at home, the royal speech lamented that a formidable rebellion had 
broken out in the Punjab. The war proceeded with disastrous conse- 
quences, and although the fiercely contested battle of Chillianwallah left 
the British masters of the field, the Sikhs infiicted terrible losses upon 
England's troops. Sir Charles Napier was sent out, but before he arrived 
in India Lord Cough had encountered the combined forces of the enemy 



196 FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

at Goojerat, and had totally defeated them. The rebellipu was sup- 
pressed, and the Punjab was annexed to the British possessions in India. 

On the 19th of May another dastardly attack was made upon Her 
Majesty. After holding a drawing room at Buckingham Palace, she 
went out in an open carriage, with three of her children, to take a drive 
round the parks. Shortly before six o'clock the royal carriage had 
arrived about midway down Constitution Hill on its return, when a man 
who stood within the railings of the Green Park discharged a pistol in 
the direction of the Queen. He was immediately seized by the bystand- 
ers, and would probably have been the victim of lynch law had not a 
park-keeper and a constable interfered and arrested him. The carriage 
stopped for a moment, but Her Majesty, with great coolness and decision, 
stood up, and motioned the driver to go forward. The prisoner was 
brought up and identified as one William Hamilton, of Adare, in the 
county Limerick. He was a bricklayer's laborer, who for five years 
past had led a roving life in France and England. His last place of 
abode was in Pimlico, in the house of a fellow-Irishman, w^hose wife had 
lent him an old rusty pistol, ostensibly to make "a sight in the air 
among the trees." He was afterwards found in the Green Park under 
the circumstances narrated. Hamilton was put on his trial at the Cen- 
tral Criminal Court, when witnesses proved the presenting of the pistol 
at the carriage and its explosion. The prisoner was sentenced to seven 
years' transportation. 

The Queen's long-expected visit to Ireland was paid in August, 1849. 
Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with their four children, embarked at 
C'owes on the 1st, in the royal yacht, and steered to the westward, con- 
voyed by a squadron of four steamers. They arrived at the Cove of Cork 
at ten p. m. on the following day, and came to anchor amidst the boom- 
ing of artillery and the blaze of a universal illumination on sea and land. 
Next morning the most deafening cheers hailed Her Majesty's first land 
ing on Irish ground. The Queen received a number of addresses, and 
communicated her royal pleasure that the town of Cove should, in com- 
memoration of its being the spot chosen for her landing, henceforth bear 
the name of Queenstown. The royal party re-embarked, and proceeded 
to Cork amid the enthusiastic shouts of thousands of Irish Celts. A 
royal progress was made through the city, the Queen being much struck 
by the noisy but good-natured crowd, and by the beauty of the women. 
The royal squadron next sailed to Waterford, and from there went on 



FAMILY LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 197 

to Dublin. As the vessels came into Kingstown Harbor, and the Queen 
appeared on deck, there was a burst of cheering, renewed again and 
again, from some 40,000 spectators. 

Early on the following day. Lord Clarendon, the Lord Lieutenant, 
and Lady Clarendon, with Prince George of Cambridge, the Archbishop 
of Dublin, and various officers of state, went on board to be in attendance 
on Her Majesty. A deputation from the county of Dublin, headed by 
the Earl of Charlemont, presented an address. At ten o'clock the Queen 
and Prince Albert prepared to land, with their children. As the Queen's 
foot touched the shore, the royal standard swept aloft, the populace 
shouted, and the booming of the heavy guns veritably shook the earth. 
An eye-witness thus describes Her Majesty's passage from the boat to 
the railway : "It was a sight never to be forgotten, a sound to be recol- 
lected forever. Ladies threw aside the old formula, of waving a white 
pocket-handkerchief, and cheered for their lives, while the men waved 
whatever came first to hand — hat, stick, wand or coat (for the day was 
very hot) — and rent the air with shouts of joy, which never decreased 
in energy till their beloved Sovereign was far out of sight. The Queen, 
turning from side to side, bowed repeatedly. Prince Albert shared in 
and acknowledged the plaudits of the people, while the royal children 
were objects of universal attention and admiration. Her Majesty seemed 
to feel deeply the warmth of her reception. She paused at the end of the 
platform for a moment, and again making her acknowledgments, was 
hailed with one universal and tremendous cheer as she entered the ter- 
minus. The royal party then went by rail to the capital." 

The royal carriages were in waiting at the terminus, and Her Majesty 
now made her progress through Dublin, having first received the keys 
of the city from the Lord Mayor, and graciously returned them to him. 
There was a triumphal arch of great size and beauty at the entrance to 
the city, but it was the human element all along the route which most 
deeply interested the Queen. "It was a wonderful and stirring scene," 
she wrote; "such masses of human beings, so enthusiastic, so excited, 
yet such perfect order maintained. Then the number of troops, the 
different bands stationed at certain distances, the waving of hats and 
handkerchiefs, the bursts of welcome that rent the air, all made it a 
never-to-be-forgotten scene when we reflected how lately the country had 
been under martial law." Dublin, with its magnificent Sackville street, 
was greatly admired by the royal visitors. In the midst of ail the shout- 



198 FAMILY. LIFE AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 

ing and excitement, at the last triumphal arch, a tame dove, with an 
olive-branch round its neck, was let down into the Queen's lap — an inci- 
dent which deserves recording to the honor of some poetic Celt. 

The Dowager Queen Adelaide died on the 2nd of December, at her 
country seat of Bentley Priory, at the age of fifty-seven years. Towards 
the close of November, Queen Victoria had paid her last visit to her, 
afterwards writing to King Leopold : "There was death written in that 
dear face. It was such a picture of misery, of complete prostration, and 
yet she talked of everything. I could hardly command my feelings when 
I came in, and when I kissed twice that poor dear thin hand. I love her 
so dearly; she has ever been so maternal in her affection to me. She 
will find peace and a reward for her many sufferings." 

Her Majesty's third son and seventh child was born May 1, 1850, and 
as this was the birthday of the Duke of Wellington, it was determined 
to give him the same name — Arthur. The child was christened "Arthur 
William Patrick Albert." The second name was given after Prince 
William of Prussia, Patrick was in remembrance of the Queen's visit to 
Ireland and Albert was chosen after the Prince Consort. 

Only a few weeks after the birth of her child, a most cowardly attack 
was made upon the Queen by one Lieutenant Pate, a man of good family. 
As Her Majesty was leaving Cambridge House, where she had called to 
inquire after the Duke of Cambridge, who was seriously ill. Pate darted 
forward and struck a blow with a cane at Her Majesty's face. The force 
of the blow was broken by the bonnet, tut a severe bruise was inflicted 
on the Queen's forehead. No motive was ever assigned for this attack. 
At Pate's trial the usual plea of insanity was put forward, but the jury 
declined to recognize it, and the prisoner was sentenced to seven years' 
transportation. 




David Livingstone 

The Greatest English Explorer and Missionary of the Victorian Age 




Rev. Chas. H. Spurgeo>i 

Greatest Preacher of the Victorian Age 



CHAPTER VII. 
THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

Work of the Prince Consort— He Plans a Great World's Fair— Appointment of a Royal 
Commission— Hyde Park Chosen for the Site— Strong Opposition Enconntered— Build- 
ing of the Beautiful Crystal Palace— Opening of the Exhibition— The Queen's Account 
of the Ceremony— Great Multitudes Present— Close of the Exhibition— Death of the 
Duke of Wellington— Fire in Windsor Castle— Birth of Another Son to the Queen. 

AT THE beginning of 1850 the Queen became grievously alarmed 
about the health of the Prince Consort. The toil and anxieties 
of politics had sadly worn his nervous system; and in addition 
to his work as confidential private secretary to the Queen, his 
own occupations had grown more numerous and varied each year. Sir 
Theodore Martin said of him: "Ministers and diplomatists found him 
at every interview possessed of an encyclopaedic range of information, 
extending even to the minutest details." The Court at this time was 
a rich treasure-store of information regarding the inner history of 
courts and embassies on the Continent, on which the English diplomats 
were grateful to draw for aid and suggestions, when appointed to diffi* 
cult and delicate missions. "But to the claims of politics," writes Sir 
Theodore Martin, "had to be added those which science, art, and ques- 
tions of social improvement were constantly forcing upon the Prince'sr 
attention." 

The business of organizing the Great Exhibition of 1851 was almost 
entirely assumed by Prince Albert, not only because the idea originated 
with him, but because he was found to be the only man in England who 
thoroughly understood the scheme. As Lord Granville, in a letter to 
Prince Albert's secretary, remarked, his Royal Highness seemed to be 
almost the only person who had considered the subject as a whole and 
in details. "The whole thing," said Lord Granville, "would fall to pieces 
if he left it to itself." 

On February 21, 1850, a brilliant meeting in support of the under- 
taking was held at Willis' Eooms, which was attended by the diplomatic 
representatives of the leading nations. This was followed up by a grand 
banquet at the Mansion House, which was attended by the great digni- 

201 



20« THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

taries of State, the Foreign Ambassadors, the Royal Commissioners for 
the Exhibition, and the heads of the county and municipal magistracy. 
After the Royal Commission had been appointed, the question of site, 
space, and finance were those which pressed for settlement, and without 
doubt the last gave the Queen the most anxiety. The public, she saw, 
must be induced to support the scheme, and meetings be organized for 
the purpose of making its advantages known. 

Prince Albert's speech at this banquet, however, struck the key-note 
of all the subsequent advocacy which the Exhibition received. The age, 
said he^ was advancing towards the realization of a unity of mankind, 
to be attained as the result and product, and not by the destruction, of 
national characteristics. Science, by abridging distance, was increasing 
the communicability of ideas. The principle of the division of labor was 
gradually being applied everywhere, giving ' rise to specialism, but 
specialism practiced in publicity, and under the stimulus of competition 
and capital. Thus was man winning new powers in fulfilling his mis- 
sion in the world — the discovery of natural laws and the conquest of 
nature by compliance with them. The central idea of this Exhibition 
of 1851 was to give a true test, and a living picture of the point at which 
civilized man had arrived in carrying out his mission, and to serve as a 
basis of operations for further efforts which might carry humanity 
upwards and onwards to a larger and loftier stage. Such, in a brief 
paraphrase, were the views of Prince Albert, and they ran through the 
country amidst a chorus of approval. The whole nation responded to 
the appeal of His Royal Highness, and the delight of the Queen was 
correspondingly great. 

On February 23, a meeting of ladies was held at Stafford House, 
under the presidency of the Duchess of Sutherland, with the object of 
inviting the women of England to assist in promoting the success of the 
Exhibition, and a very influential committee was formed for this pur- 
pose. 

The Exhibition commissioners chose Hyde Park for the site of the 
buildings, and this led to a bitter attack upon Prince Albert by the 
English press. It was regarded as an invasion of the pleasure-grounds 
of "the people," and bitterly resented on that score. The truth is, how- 
ever, that a rich and selfish clique of families dwelling in the neighbor- 
hood objected to a great public show, likely to attract multitudes of 
slght-seers, coming between the wind and their nobility, and they repre- 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 203 

sented "the people" for the occasion. An attack was organized on the 
Exhibition commissioners in Parliament, and the Queen, well knowing 
that if it were successful, the project must be abandoned, was sorely 
grieved at the folly and prejudice which inspired the opposition. The 
Times was very bitter. Even Mr. Punch, famed for his sentimental 
devotion to the Queen, proved himself a sad recreant on this occasion, 
and Leach ridiculed the Prince, because the public was a little niggardly 
with its subscriptions, which fell far short of £100,000, which was the 
lowest estimate tendered for the building. 

But the attempt of "a little knot of selfish persons," as the Queen 
called them in a letter in which she implored Baron Stockmar to come 
and comfort her and her husband in their troubles, to drive the Exhibi- 
tion out of Hyde Park failed, and their attacks on Parliament collapsed. 
A way out of the difficulties was finally opened up. It was proposed to 
establish a guarantee fund to meet any deficit that might be incurred, 
and on June 12 it was started by a subscription of £50,000 from Messrs. 
Peto, the contractors. In a few days the subscriptions sufficed to solve 
the financial problem. Ultimately, to the surprise of those who had 
scoffed at the Prince's sanguine anticipations, not only were the guar- 
antors freed from all responsibility, but when the Exhibition accounts 
were closed, the commissioners found themselves with a balance of a 
quarter of a million in hand. The work was accordingly begun without 
further delay. 

On the last day of December, 1850, the Queen was gratified to know 
that one of her husband's most cherished designs had been carried out. 
The building for the International Exhibition had risen from the ground 
in Hyde Park with the magic rapidity of a fairy palace. The design 
which had been chosen was that of a French artist, and Londoners had 
looked on with amazement at the erection of the great central dome of 
crystal, which dwarfed even that of St. Paul's into insignificance. The 
plan for carrying out the design was suggested by Mr. Paxton, chief 
superintendent of the Duke of Devonshire's gardens, and it was but an 
expansion of the grand conservatory which he had built for His Grace 
at Chatsworth. 

Iron and glass were the materials used for its construction. The 
cast-iron columns and girders were all alike — four columns and four 
girders being placed in relative positions forming a square of twenty- 
four feet, which could be raised to any height, or expanded laterally in 



204 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

any required direction, merely by joining other columns and girders to 
them. The building, therefore, grew up in multiples of twenty-four, and 
it could be taken to pieces just as readily as if it had been a doll's house, 
and put up on any other site in exactly the same form. 

As a matter of fact, after the Exhibition was held in 1851, this won- 
derful palace of crystal was removed to Sydenham, where it has long 
been one of the sights of London. The building covered eighteen acres 
of ground, and gave an exhibiting surface of twenty-one acres. The 
contractors accepted the order for the work on July 26, and though there 
was not a single bar of iron or pane of glass prepared at that date, they 
handed the completed building over to the commissioners, ready for 
painting and fitting, on the last day of the year. 

The Exhibition year of 1851 marked an epoch in the history of the 
English nation. The interest of the country in this great World's fair 
was strong, but it was feeble compared to that which the Queen and 
Prince Albert took in it. All through March and April the Prince 
worked night and day arranging for the opening, undaunted by the 
carping criticisms of those who predicted that the direst calamities 
would spring from the Exhibition. Those foolish persons asserted that 
to attract to the capital dense crowds of foreigners would lead to riot, 
to the spread of revolutionary doctrines, to the introduction of pes- 
tilence, and to the ruin of British trade, the secrets of which would be 
revealed to competitors in the markets of the world. Colonel Sibthorp, 
in the debate on the address, actually implored Heaven to destroy the 
Crystal Palace by hail or lightning, and others declared that the Queen 
would most surely be assassinated by some foreign conspirators on the 
opening day of the great show. 

The diplomatic body in London also behaved churlishly to the pro- 
moters of the scheme, arguing that foreigners, by coming in contact 
with the democratic institutions of England, would lose their taste for 
absolutism. When Prince Albert proposed that the ambassadors should 
have an opportunity of taking part in the proceedings by presenting an 
address to the Queen, M. Van de Weyer, as senior member of the diplo- 
matic body in London, privately asked the opinion of his colleagues on 
the subject. They all gave their assent with one exception. Baron Brun- 
now, who was "not at home" when M. Van de Weyer called on him. 
But at a meeting of the diplomatic body it was decided by a majotity 
of them not to present any address to Her Majesty. This decision was 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 205 

arrived at mainly by the influence of Brunnow, who said he could not 
permit the Kussian nation or people to be mentioned in an address of 
this kind. He was also jealous of allowing M. Van de Weyer or any 
other ambassador to speak for the Russian government. 

The Queen was chagrined at this incivility, and instructed M. Van de 
Weyer to tell his colleagues that of course she could not compel them 
"to accept a courtesy which anywhere else would be looked on as a 
favor." Brunnow, however, held out. In the end it was agreed that the 
ambassadors should present no address, but merely be formally pre- 
sented to the Queen at the opening function, and, having bowed, that 
they should file away to the side of the platform, where they certainly 
did not cut an imposing figure during the ceremony of inauguration. 

On April 29 the Queen made a private visit to the Exhibition, and 
returned from it saying that her eyes were positively dazzled with "the 
myriads of beautiful things" which met her view. Though some of the 
royal family, like the Duke of Cambridge, were afraid that there might 
be a riot on the opening day, the Queen was not affected in the least 
by their warnings, asserting that she had the completest faith in the 
good sense, good humor, and chivalrous loyalty of her people. Nor was 
this confidence misplaced. 

The inaugural ceremony took place on the 1st of May, and it is 
almost superfluous to say that it was a most imposing sight. The Queen 
and Prince Albert and all the royal children, as well as the Duchess of 
Kent and the young Count Gleichen, were present. The Park presented 
a wonderful spectacle, and the scene in the streets recalled that of the 
Coronation Day. The Queen wrote a graphic account of the ceremony 
in her diary, which takes us below the surface, and exhibits the inner 
emotions of Her Majesty, as well as the main features of the ceremonial 
on this great day. The following are the chief passages in the Sover- 
eign's description: 

"At half-past eleven the whole procession in State carriages was in 
motion. The Green Park and Hyde Park were one densely crowded 
mass of human beings, in the highest good humor and most enthusiastic. 
I never saw Hyde Park look as it did, as far as the eye could reach. A 
little rain fell just as we started, but before we came near the Crystal 
Palace, the sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon w^hich 
the flags of all the nations were floating. We drove up Rotten Row, and 
got out at the entrance on that side. 



206 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

"The glimpse of the transept through the iron gates, the waving 
palms, flowers, statues, myriads of people filling the galleries and seats 
around, with the flourish of trumpets as we entered, gave us a sensation 
which I can never forget, and I felt much moved. We went for a 
moment to a little side room where we left our shawls, and where we 
found mamma and Mary (now Princess of Teck), and outside which were 
standing the other Princes. In a very few seconds we proceeded, Albert 
leading me, having Vicky at his hand, and Bertie holding mine. The 
sight as we came to the middle where the steps and chair (which I did 
not sit on) were placed, with the beautiful crystal fountain just in front 
of it, was magical, so vast, so glorious, so touching. One felt— as so 
many did whom I have since spoken to — filled with devotion more so 
than by any service I have ever heard. The tremendous cheers, the joy 
expressed in every face, the immensity of the building, the mixture of 
palms, flowers, trees, statues, fountains — the organ (with 200 instru- 
ments and 600 voices, which sounded like nothing), and my beloved 
husband, the author of this 'Peace Festival,' which united the industry 
of all nations of the earth — all this was moving indeed, and it was and is 
a day to live forever. God bless my dearest Albert ! God bless my dear- 
est country, which has shown itself so great to-day! One felt so grateful 
to the great God who seemed to pervade all and to bless all! The only 
event it in the slightest degree reminded me of was the Coronation, but 
this day's festival was a thousand times superior. In fact, it is unique, 
and can bear no comparison, from its peculiarity, beauty, and combina- 
tion of such different and striking objects. I mean the slight resem- 
blance only as to its solemnity; the enthusiasm and cheering too were 
much more touching, for in a church naturally all is silent. 

"Albert left my side after ^God Save the Queen' had been sung, and 
at the head of the Commissioners — a curious assemblage of political 
and distinguished men — read me the report, which is a long one, and to 
which I read a short answer. After this the Archbishop of Canterbury 
offered up a short and appropriate prayer, followed by the 'Hallelujah 
Chorus,' during which a Chinese mandarin came forward and made his 
obeisance. This incident was not provided for in the official programme. 
It was purely spontaneous on the part of the mandarin, who was appar- 
ently overcome by the solemnity of the scene. This concluded, the pro- 
cession began. It was beautifully arranged, and of great length — the 
prescribed order being exactly adhered to. The nave was full, which 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 207 

bad not been intended; but still there was no difficulty, and the whole 
long walk from one end to the other was made in the midst of continued 
and deafening cheers and waving of handkerchiefs. Every one's face 
was bright and smiling, many with tears in their eyes. Many French- 
men called out *Vive la Reine!' One could of course see nothing but 
what was here in the nave, and nothing in the courts. The organs were 
but little heard, but the military band at one end had a very fine effect 
as we passed along. They played the march from Athalie. The beautiful 
Amazon in bronze, by Kiss, looked very magnificent. The old Duke and 
Lord Anglesey walked arm-in-arm, which was a touching sight. I saw 
many acquaintances amongst those present. 

"We returned to our own place, and Albert told Lord Breadalbane 
to declare that the Exhibition was opened, which he did in a loud voice: 
'Her Majesty commands me to declare this Exhibition open,' which was 
followed by a flourish of trumpets and immense cheering. All the Com- 
missioners, the Executive Committee, etc., who worked so hard, and to 
whom such immense praise is due, seemed truly happy, and no one more 
so than Paxton, who may be justly proud; he rose from being a common 
gardener's boy. Everybody was astonished and delighted; Sir George 
Grey (Home Secretary) in tears. 

"The return was equally satisfactory; the crowd most enthusiastic, 
the order perfect. We reached the Palace at twenty minutes past one, 
and went out on the balcony and were loudly cheered. The Prince and 
Princess (of Prussia) quite delighted and impressed. That we felt happy 
— thankful — I need not say; proud of all that had passed, of my darling 
husband's success, and of the behavior of my good people. I was more 
impressed than I can say by the scene. It was one that can never be 
effaced from my memory, and never will be from that of any one who 
witnessed it. Albert's name is immortalized, and the wicked and 
absurd reports of dangers of every kind which a set of people — viz., the 
soi-disant fashionables and the most violent Protectionists spread — are 
silenced. It is therefore doubly satisfactory that all should have gone 
off so well, and without the slightest accident or mishap. » * * 
Albert's emphatic words last year, when he said that the feeling would 
be *that of deep thankfulness to the Almighty for the blessings which 
He has bestowed upon us here below,' have been this day realized. 

"I must not omit to mention an interesting episode of this day — ^viz., 
the visit of the good old Duke on this his eighty-second birthday to his 



208 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

little godson, our dear little boy. He came to us both at five, and gave 
him a golden cup and some toys, which he had himself chosen, and 
Arthur gave him a nosegay. 

"We dined en famille, and then went to the Covent Garden Opera, 
where we saw the two finest acts of the Huguenots given as beautifully 
as last year. I was rather tired; but we were both so happy, so full of 
thankfulness! God is indeed our kind and merciful Father!" 

Lord John Russell congratulated the Queen upon the triumphant 
success of the day's proceedings. All the arrangements had been most 
perfectly carried out. In addition to 25,000 people within the building, 
it was calculated that nearly 700,000 people were assembled on the route 
between it and Buckingham Palace; yet the Home Secretary was able 
to report to Her Majesty next day that there had not been one accident 
or one police case due to this assemblage. Such a circumstance was 
probably unexampled in the history of great popular celebrations. Well 
might the Queen assert that this Exhibition of 1851 would contribute 
to give imperishable fame to Prince Albert, while the day of its opening, 
the 1st of May, would ever remain "the proudest and happiest of her 
happy life!" 

The Queen and the Prince Consort entered into other enjoyments at 
this time. They heard Rachel in the Andromaque, were present when 
Macready took leave of the stage, and attended a performance at Devon- 
shire House on behalf of the newly formed Guild of Literature and Art, 
when Charles Dickens, Douglas Jerrold, John Forster, and others, 
appeared in "Not so Bad as We Seem." The Prince was also very promi- 
nent in charitable and scientific enterprises, and manifested a deep 
interest in the British Association. 

A grand fancy ball was given by the Queen at Buckingham Palace 
on the 13th of June. All the characters and costumes were drawn from 
the Restoration period. Her Majesty and the Prince were superbly 
dressed. Four national quadrilles — English, Scotch, French and Span- 
ish — were danced; and subsequently there was a "Rose" quadrille. In 
opening the general ball, which followed, the Queen danced the Polo- 
naise with Prince Albert, the Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Edward 
of Saxe Weimar. Prince Albert next danced with the Duchess of Nor- 
folk, the premier peeress, and after supper the Queen danced with the 
Prince of Leiningen. Lady Ashburton appeared as Madame de S^vigne, 
and the Countess of Tankerville as the Duchesse de Grammont, whom 




Main Entrance to Windsor Castle 

Queen Victoria's Favorite Home. 




The Queen's Private Sitting-koom, AVindsor Castle 




Albert Memorial,— Loxdon 

This beautiful monument, erected by Queen Victoria and her people in memory of the Prince Consort 
is located in Kensington Gardens, the birth-place of Queen Victoria. It is of granite bronze and marble' 
The groups of figures at the four corners of the base are especially fine. 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 213 

she personated in right of her mother-in-law, Corisande de Grammont, 
granddaughter of Marie Antoinette's friend, Gabrielle de Polignac. Mr. 
Bancroft Davies, Secretary of the United States Legation, appeared as 
William Penn: and there were many other assumptions of distinguished 
characters. Miss Burdett Coutts and Lady Londonderry surprised every 
one by their dazzling display of jewels. The Duke of Wellington was in 
the scarlet and gold uniform of the period; Lord Gal way was in a plain 
cuirass and gorget; while Mr. Gladstone appeared as a judge of the 
High Court of Admiralty in Charles' reign, "in a velvet coat turned up 
with blue satin, ruffles and collar of old point, black breeches and stock- 
ings, and shoes with spreading bows." 

The City also gave a grand ball at the Guildhall on the 9th of July, 
to celebrate the opening of the Exhibition. The Queen and Prince 
Alber-t, and large numbers of the aristocracy, were present. The great 
hall in which the ball took place was splendidly fitted up. There was 
a striking array of banners emblazoned with the arms of the nations and 
cities represented at the Palace in Hyde Park, while the compartments 
beneath the balconies were filled with pictorial representations of the 
finest and most striking contributions in the Exhibition. After the 
dancing, supper was served in the crypt, which was made to represent 
an old baronial hall. On leaving, her Majesty thanked Lord Mayor Mus- 
grove for his hospitality, and announced her intention of creating him 
a baronet. Prince Albert told Baron Stockmar that this City ball 
passed off most brilliantly, and that a million of people remained till 
three in the morning in the streets, and cheered Her Majesty on her 
return with great enthusiasm. 

On the 27th of August the Queen, Prince Albert and several of the 
royal children, left London for Balmoral, traveling for the first time 
by the Great Northern Railway. A halt was made at Peterborouo-h, 
where Her Majesty had a kindly interview with the venerable Bishop, 
Dr. Davys, who had been the tutor of her childhood. Boston, Lincoln 
and Doncaster were next visited, the royal party stopping for a night at 
the last-named town, selecting the Angel Inn for their resting-place. 
Going on next day to Edinburgh, Her Majesty and the Prince drove 
through the city, and remained for the night in the State apartments of 
Holyrood Palace. The honor of knighthood was conferred on the Lord 
Provost of Edinburgh. 

Balmoral was reached on the evening of the 29th. The castle and 



314 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION, 

domain had now become royal property. The estate extended to 
upwards of seven miles in length and four in breadth. The stay this 
year was not marked by any special incidents, though several features 
of interest attended the return journey. Leaving her Highland residence 
on the 7th of October, the Queen journeyed with her family to the 
south. Between Forfar and Glasgow the axle of a carriage truck 
became ignited, and the carriage had to be disengaged; while between 
Glasgow and Edinburgh one of the feeder-pipes from the tender to the 
engine burst with a loud explosion. No evil results occurred from these 
misadventures. At Lancaster the royal party alighted to view John of 
Gaunt's ancient castle. The Queen and the Prince then proceeded to 
Croxteth Park, the seat of the Earl of Sefton. From thence, on the fol- 
lowing day, a royal progress was made through Liverpool, in accordance 
with previous arrangements. Great preparations had been made for 
Her Majesty's reception, but the weather was disastrously unfavorable. 
The rain poured down in torrents, and all objects were concealed in a 
deep mist. The Queen and the Prince, nevertheless, courageously went 
through the whole of the programme; and the streets were crowded 
with persons whose loyalty defied the elements. The royal party vis- 
ited the Docks, and sailed round the mouth of the Mersey. They then 
visited the Town Hall and St. George's Hall. At the Town Hall 
addresses were presented, and Her Majesty knighted the Mayor, Mr. 
John Bent. From Liverpool the royal party went by barges on the 
Bridgewater Canal to Worsley Hall, the seat of the Earl of Ellesmere. 
Next day was a grand gala day at Manchester. There was a royal 
progress through the town, the Queen being received everywhere with 
the utmost enthusiasm; and in Peel Park nearly 80,000 children, belong- 
ing to all religious denominations, were arranged in fourteen tiers of 
galleries. It was during this royal visit that Sir John Potter received 
his knighthood. Her Majesty returned to Worsley Hall, and next day 
the royal travelers journeyed to Watford, where they took carriages to 
Windsor. 

The Queen paid a farewell visit to the Exhibition on the 14th of Octo- 
ber, and shortly afterwards it was dismantled. During the five and a 
half months it had remained open, the visitors had been 6,200,000, and 
the total receipts £500,000. 

Several events of moment occurred before the close of the year. In 
November the King of Hanover died. He was the fifth and last surviv- 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 215 

ing son of George III. and Queen Charlotte, and as Duke of Cumberland 
he had been anything but popular. Louis Kossuth came over to England 
in the autumn of 1851, and created intense interest and excitement. But 
the most startling incident of all this year occurred on the 2nd of 
December, that fatal day which witnessed the coup d'etat of Louis 
Napoleon. By the aid of the army, the ambitious Bonaparte ruthlessly 
violated the rights of the people, laying the foundation of his power 
in bloodshed and despotism. A good deal of ill-feeling resulted between 
England and France, but all fears of French aggression ultimately died 
out. Lord Palmerston was compelled to resign in consequence of his 
too-ready acceptance of the coup d'etat and his acquiescence in the 
measures of Louis Napoleon; but he had his revenge early in the fol- 
lowing year, when he was mainly instrumental in overthrowing the 
Liberal Government on its Militia Bill. 

The year 1852 was one of appalling disasters. Early in January the 
splendid mail steamship Amazon was destroyed by fire as she was enter- 
ing the Bay of Biscay. Out of a total of 161 persons on board no fewer 
than 140 perished. Amongst those who met a terrible fate on this 
occasion was that admirable writer, Mr. Elot Warburton. Another 
fearful catastrophe occurred in April, when Her Majesty's steam troop- 
ship Birkenhead went down near the Cape of Good Hope. Heart-rend- 
ing accounts were published of the disaster from survivors. Out of 630 
persons on board, chiefly military passengers and their wives and chil- 
dren, only 194 were saved. A third catastrophe, which occurred at 
home, was the bursting of the Bilberry reservoir, near Holmfirth, on 
the borders of Yorkshire and Lancashire. An immense destruction of 
life and property ensued. Nearly one hundred persons perished; and, 
as an example of the w^reck and ruin involved, it may be stated that one 
family who the night before were worth £10,000, were reduced to ask for 
clothes to cover them. More than 7,000 persons were instantly rendered 
destitute, and the total damage was estimated at £600,000. Her Majesty 
was greatly moved on learning of these dire calamities. 

When the London season commenced this year, an interesting cor- 
respondence took place between the King of the Belgians and the 
Queen. The former was afraid lest the wear and tear of London life 
should have an injurious effect upon Her Majesty. The Queen's reply 
set her uncle's mind at rest: "The London season for us consists of two 
State balls and two concerts. We are hardly ever later than twelve 



216 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

o'clock at night, and our only dissipation is going three or four times a 
week to the play or opera, which is a great amusement and relaxation 
to us both. As for going out as people do here every night to balls and 
parties, and to breakfasts and teas all day long besides, I am sure no one 
would stand it worse than I should; so you see, dearest uncle, that in 
fact the London season is nothing to us." 

While Her Majesty was staying at Osborne in the summer, she 
received news of the death of Count Mensdorff, who had married the 
sister of the Duchess of Kent, and was consequently uncle by marriage 
both to the Queen and Prince Albert. Princess Hohenlohe came over on 
a visit at this time; she was in great distress and anguish, having just 
lost her eldest daughter from consumption. 

In July the Queen and Prince Albert made a marine excursion along 
the Devonshire coast, and in the ensuing month they went over to 
Brussels on a brief visit to King Leopold. Shortly after their return. 
Her Majesty received intimation that a large legacy had beeni 
bequeathed to her absolutely by an eccentric barrister of Lincoln's Inn, 
named John Camden Nield. The testator had inherited a large fortune 
from his father, which he had greatly increased by his penurious habits. 
Mr. Meld's personalty was sworn under £250,000. 

The Court proceeded to Balmoral in August, and on the 16th of the 
following month, while on an excursion to the Glassalt Shiel, the Queen 
received intelligence of the death of the greatest of her subjects. 
The illustrious Wellington, "the great Duke," had passed away at 
Walmer, after a few hours' illness, and with no suffering, at the 
patriarchal age of eighty-three. Keenly did Her Majesty feel this great 
loss, for the Duke had in a measure held towards her the triple capacity 
of father, hero, and friend. In the plenitude of her grief, and with an 
exaggeration of language which will be understood in consequence, she 
spoke of him as "England's, or rather Britain's, pride, her glory, her 
hero, the greatest man she had ever produced." 

Thousands of British hearts, however, echoed the Queen's sentiment 
when she wrote that "one cannot think of this country without 'the 
Duke,' our immortal hero!" Full justice was done by the Queen in the 
following passage to the great soldier's character: "In him centered 
almost every earthly honor a subject could possess. His position was 
the highest a subject ever had — above party — looked up to by all — 
revered by the whole nation — the friend of the Sovereign — and how sim- 



THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION, 217 

ply he carried these honors! With what singleness of purpose, what 
straightforwardness, what courage, were all the motives of his actions 
guided. 

"The Crown never possessed — and I fear never will — so devoted, 
loyal, and faithful a subject, so stanch a supporter! To us (who, alas! 
have lost now so many of our valued and experienced friends) his loss 
is irreparable, for his readiness to aid and advise, if it could be of use to 
us, to overcome any and every difficulty, was unequaled. To Albert he 
showed the greatest kindness and the utmost confidence. His experi- 
ence and knowledge of the past were so great too; he was a link which 
connected us with bygone times, with the last century. Not an eye will 
be dry in the whole country." 

While the pessimism of grief pervaded this tribute, it indicated very 
clearly the characteristics of the man whom all Britain mourned as with 
one heart. The body of the Duke was brought up to London, and con- 
veyed to Chelsea Hospital, where it lay in state for four days, and was 
viewed privately on the first day by the Queen and Prince Albert and 
their children. On the 18th the great Duke was laid to rest in St. Paul's 
Cathedral, the funeral being such as had never before been celebrated 
for any Englishman. At the close of the funeral rites in the Cathedral, 
the body was lowered into the vault amid the solemn strains of the 
"Dead March." A sense of depression, of personal loss, then came over 
the vast assembly. Prince Albert, it is stated, was deeply moved, and the 
aged Marquis of Anglesey, the octogenarian companion in arms of 
the deceased, by an irresistible impulse stepped forward, placed his 
hand on the sinking coffin that contained the remains of his chief in 
many battles, and burst into tears. Verily, a Prince and a great man 
had fallen in Israel! 

In December, 1852, the Derby-Disraeli Government fell upon its 
Budget, which was attacked with great force by Mr. Gladstone. Lord 
Aberdeen became Prime Minister, and his ministry included many of 
the leading Whigs and Peelites, Mr. Gladstone being Chancellor of the 
Exchequer for the first time. Across the Channel, the French Empir<^ 
had just been declared, and Louis Napoleon had made his public entry' 
into Paris as Emperor. 

On the 19th of March, 1853, a disastrous fire broke out in Windsor 
Castle, w^hich at one time placed that magnificent structure and the 
whole of its contents in jeopardy. Fortunately, the flames were sub* 



218 THE FIRST GREAT WORLD'S EXPOSITION. 

dued and the injury was confined to the ceilings of the dining-room in 
the Prince of Wales' Tower, and two floors of bedrooms immediately 
over it, which were practically destroyed. The fire was supposed to 
have originated from the heating of the flues. The Court was at Wind- 
sor at the time, and the Queen, in writing upon the fire to the King of 
the Belgians, said: "Though I was not alarmed it was a serious affair, 
and an acquaintance with what a fire is and with its necessary accom- 
paniments, does not pass from one's mind without leaving a deep 
impression. For some time it was very obstinate, and no one could tell 
whether it would spread or not. Thank God, no lives were lost." The 
principal treasures in the State rooms were removed in safety on the 
announcement of the outbreak. 

The eighth child of Her Majesty, and her fourth son, v/as born at 
Buckingham Palace on the 7th of April. He was named Leopold 
George Duncan Albert, the first name being after King Leopold, the 
second after the King of Hanover, and the fourth after Prince Albert. 
The third name was a compliment to Scotland. With regard to the 
name of Leopold, the Queen said to her uncle, "Stockmar will have told 
you that Leopold is to be the name of our fourth young gentleman. It is 
a mark of love and affection which I hope you will not disapprove. It 
is a name which is the dearest to me after Albert, one which recalls the 
almost only happy days of my sad childhood." When the young Prince 
arrived at manhood it was arranged to retain this popular name of 
Leopold by styling His Royal Highness "Prince Leopold, Duke of 
Albany." 



CHAPTER Vm. 
CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

War Between Russia and Turkey— England and France Protest at the Plans of the Czar 
—Popular Feeling Against the Prince Consort— The Charge of the Light Brigade at 
Balaklaya— Mismanagement in the Crimea — The Emperor and Empress of the French 
Tisit England— End of the War in the East— Treaty of Peace— Indian Mutinies— Marriage 
of the Princess Royal— Death of Her Majesty's Mother. 

VHEN Parliament was prorogued on August 20tli, 1853, the 
following passage was inserted in the Queen's speech: 
"It is with deep interest and concern that Her Majesty 
has viewed the serious misunderstanding which has 
recently risen between Russia and the Ottoman Porte. The Emperor 
of the French has united with Her Majesty in earnest endeavors to 
reconcile differences, the continuance of which might involve Europe 
in war." 

Affairs in the East at this time were in a critical condition. Russia 
had moved troops across the Danube, and the Turkish government had 
declared war in consequence. The English and French governments at 
once notified the Czar that if any further steps of a warlike nature were 
taken against Turkey, the allied fleets would enter the Black Sea, and 
take up the cause of the Porte. Meanwhile, there were dissensions in 
the English Cabinet, and when Lord Palmerston, who represented the 
strong British war feeling, withdrew from the government, great popu- 
lar excitement ensued. There was loud talk about Court intrigue and 
prejudice, and it was openly said that Prince Albert was acting as a 
hostile influence "behind the throne" against Lord Palmerston and the 
wishes of the people. 

The feeling was now as strong against the Prince as it had been in 
his favor a few years before. Tories and Liberals were alike embit- 
tered against him. Writing to Baron Stockmar, the Prince said: "One 
word more about the credulity of the public. You will scarcely credit 
that my being committed to the Tower was believed all over the coun- 
try — nay, even *that the Queen had been arrested.' People surrounded 
the Tower in thousands to see us brought to it. * * ♦ It was anything 
but pleasant to me that so many people could look upon me *as a rogue 

319 



220 CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

and traitor,' and I shall not be at ease until I see the debate in Parlia- 
ment well over; for it is not enough that these rumors should be dis- 
pelled for the time — they must be knocked on the head, and the disease 
radically cured. Then, what has occurred may be of the greatest service 
for the future." The Queen wrote to Lord Aberdeen: "In attacking the 
Prince, who is one and the same with the Queen herself, the Throne is 
assailed, and she must say she little expected that any portion of her 
subjects would thus requite the unceasing labors of the Prince." In 
January, 1854, when Parliament met, the calumnies against the Prince 
were completely refuted by Lord Aberdeen in the House of Lords, and 
Lord John Kussell in the House of Commons. Lord Campbell, Lord 
Derby, and Mr. Walpole, all high constitutional authorities, vindicated 
the right of the Prince to support the Sovereign by his advice in all mat- 
ters of State. 

Her Majesty heartily rejoiced when the clouds lifted, and a letter 
she wrote to Baron Stockmar, on the anniversary of her marriage, 
showed the strength of her womanly feelings. "This blessed day," she 
observed, "is full of joyful, tender emotions. Fourteen happy and 
blessed years have passed, and I confidently trust many more will, and 
find us in old age as we are now — happy and devotedly united. Trials 
we must have; but what are they if we are together?" A family masque 
was performed on this occasion, in which all the royal children took 
part. At one point in the proceedings the Princess Helena appeared as 
Britannia, and pronounced a blessing on the Queen and Prince, in the 
name of all the seasons, which had been represented respectively by the 
Princess Alice, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, and the Prince of 
Wales. 

Not long after this peaceful scene, war was declared against Russia, 
and on a cold March morning a painfully interesting incident was wit- 
nessed in front of Buckingham Palace, when the Fusiliers marched past, 
cheering the Queen heartily. Her Majesty was much touched over the 
farewell to her gallant troops, now setting out for the East. There were 
many sorrowing friends to bid good-bye to the soldiers. High and low 
felt the grief of parting, and amongst the former was the Duchess of 
Cambridge, who bade farewell to her son. Some days later the Queen 
went to Spithead, to view the magnificent fleet under Sir Charles 
Napier, before it sailed for the Baltic. 

Her Majesty's birthday was this year spent at Osborne, and to com- 




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CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 233 

memorate the occasion, the royal children were presented with the 
Swiss cottage in the grounds, for their own youthful use and behoof. 
Undeterred by wars and rumors of wars, the young Princes and Prin- 
cesses enjoyed themselves exceedingly. Each had a flower and vegetable 
garden, green houses, hothouses and forcing-frames, nurseries, tool- 
houses, and even a carpenter's shop. All worked at gardening con amove. 
On this juvenile property there was also a building, the ground-floor of 
which was fitted up as a kitchen, with pantries, closets, dairy, and 
larder; and the young Princesses might sometimes be seen arrayed a la 
cuismiere, floured to the elbows, and deep in the mysteries of pastry- 
making, or cooking the vegetables from their own gardens, preserving, 
pickling, baking, etc. The Queen resolved to give all her children a 
useful training. She further taught them to love and appreciate nature 
by keeping up for their benefit a museum of natural history, furnished 
with curiosities collected by the royal party in their rambles and 
researches. The children were taught the structure of animals, plants, 
and birds. 

A thoroughly friendly alliance having been established between 
England and France, Prince Albert went over to Paris in September, 
on a special visit of some days to the Emperor Napoleon. Shortly after 
his return the Court proceeded to Balmoral, where the news reached it 
of the victory of the Alma. During this visit to Scotland the Queen lis- 
tened for the first time to one who was afterwards honored by her warm 
friendship, the Rev. Norman Macleod. His sermon greatly impressed 
her, while she was still more deeply moved by his sympathetic prayer 
for "the dying, the wounded, the widow, and the orphan." Returning 
from Balmoral by Edinburgh, the royal party visited Gateshead, w^here 
there had been a terrible conflagration, and Great Grimsby, with its 
splendid docks. 

All the interest of the country now centered in the war news, the 
Queen sharing the feeling of anxiety in all its intensity. In October 
came the ever-memorable charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava: 

Long shall the tale be told. 
Yea, when our babes are old — 

how they rode onward — through the smoke and fire that belched forth 
from the iron throats of the Russian cannon — how they clove their way 
through the Russian masses and cut down the gunners at their guns — 



3M CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

how they cut their way back, "stormed at with shot and shell," a broken 
remnant of wounded and dismounted troopers, who had to report that 
they had failed to do that which even the demigods of ancient legend 
would not have been reckless enough to attempt. "It was magnificent, 
but it was not war," was the comment of the French General Bosquet 
on this horrible sacrifice — a sacrifice so horrible that, when it was over, 
even the Russians ceased firing and stood motionless and awe-stricken, 
gazing at the aw^ful scene. 

On November 5 came the brilliant but costly victory of Inkermann, 
and then ensued a disastrous period of mismanagement in the Crimea. 

Her Majesty thus wrote to Lord Raglan: "The sad privations of the 
army, the bad weather, and the constant sickness, are causes of the 
deepest concern and anxiety to the Queen and Prince. The braver her 
noble troops are, the more patiently and heroically they bear all their 
trials and sufferings, the more miserable we feel at their long contin- 
uance. The Queen trusts that Lord Raglan will be very strict in seeing 
that no unnecessary privations are incurred by any negligence of those 
whose duty it is to watch over their wants." But the serious blunder- 
ing and mismanagement continued, and the only light in the gloom was 
the noblehearted service rendered by Florence Nightingale and the 
ladies who went out with her to the East as nurses. 

Her Majesty felt so keenly the hardships endured by the troops and 
the prolonged siege of Sebastopol, that when Lord Cardigan returned 
to England and visited her at Windsor, one of the royal children said 
to him: "You must hurry back to Sebastopol and take it, else it will 
kill mamma !" A motion for a Sebastopol inquiry was brought forward 
in the House of Commons by Mr. Roebuck, and this led to the dissolu- 
tion of the Ministry. Lord Palmerston formed a new Government, and 
prosecuted the war with vigor. On the 2nd of March Europe was 
startled by the neWlB of the death of the Emperor Nicholas, an event due 
as much to the failure of his plans in the Crimea as to the chilling 
influences of the "Generals, January and February." 

The Queen and Prince visited the wounded soldiers at Chatham on 
the 3rd of March. During the same month a sale of water-color drawings 
took place in London for the benefit of the widows and orphans of offi- 
cers killed in the Crimea, and a clever and spirited drawing by the 
Princess Royal, then a girl of fifteen, was sold (amongst other pictures) 
for a large sum. In April the Emperor and Empress of the French 



CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 335 

arrived at Windsor Castle on a visit to the Queen. By a curious coin- 
cidence the Emperor's bedroom was the same which had been occupied 
on previous occasions by the late Emperor Nicholas and Louis Philippe. 
Her Majesty has thus recorded the reception of her Imperial guests: 
"I cannot say what indescribable emotions filled me, how much alll 
seemed like a wonderful dream. These great meetings of Sovereigns, 
surrounded by very exciting accompaniments, are always very agitating. 
I advanced and embraced the Emperor, who received two salutes on 
either cheek from me, having first kissed my hand. I next embraced the 
very gentle, graceful, and evidently very nervous Empress. We pre- 
sented the Princes (the Duke of Cambridge and the Prince of Leiningen) 
and our children (Vicky, with very alarmed eyes, making very low curt- 
sies); the Emperor embraced Bertie; and then we went upstairs, Albert 
leading the Empress, who in the most engaging manner refused to go 
first, but at length with graceful reluctance did so, the Emperor lead- 
ing me, expressing his great gratification at being here and seeing me, 
and admiring Windsor." The "two salutes on either cheek" which Her 
Majesty alludes to, gave great offense to the French Republicans, and 
to English sympathizers with the Republic, who spoke of Louis Napo- 
leon as "a villain," and "a traitor." 

The Queen was delighted with the Empress, finding her "full of cour- 
age and spirit, yet so gentle, with such innocence and enjouement, that 
the ensemble is most charming. With all her great liveliness, she has 
the prettiest and most modest manner." Addresses were received, and 
reviews of troops were held in honor of the Emperor. There was also a 
grand ball in the Waterloo Room, when the Queen danced a quadrille 
with her Imperial visitor. She writes that the Emperor danced with, 
great dignity and spirit, and adds: "To think that I, the granddaughter 
of George III., should dance with the Emperor Napoleon, nephew of 
England's greatest enemy, now my nearest and most intimate ally, in 
the Waterloo Room, and this ally only six years ago living in this coun- 
try in exile, poor and unthought of." Success gilds many careers which 
in themselves are neither noble nor exalted. 

There was a Council of War on the day after the Emperor's arrival, 
and subsequently he was invested with the Order of the Garter. Bishop 
Wilberforce, who was present at the Chapter, describes Louis Napoleon 
as "rather mean-looking, small, and with a tendency to emhonjmint; a 
remarkable way, as it were, of swimming up a room, with uncertain 



226 CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

gait; a small gray eye, looking cunning, but with an aspect of softness 
about it too. The Empress, a peculiar face from the arched eyebrows, 
blonde complexion; an air of sadness about her, but a person whose 
countenance at once interests you." 

A splendid banquet was given to the Emperor and Empress in the 
Guildhall, and the guests also went in state with the Queen and Prince 
to the Italian Opera. The carriages had to make their way through 
what was literally a sea of human beings. The audience in the Opera- 
house was immense, and the cheering most enthusiastic when Her 
Majesty led the Emperor to the front of the royal box, being followed 
by Prince Albert with the Empress. Next day the Queen and Prince 
accompanied their Imperial guests to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 
All went off well, though Her Majesty was anxious about the Emper- 
or's reception by the people. "I felt, as I leant on the Emperor's arm," 
she wrote afterwards, "that I was possibly a protection to him. All 
thoughts of nervousness for myself were lost. I thought only of him, 
and so it is, as Albert says, when one forgets oneself, one loses this great 
and foolish nervousness." 

A second Council relating to the Crimean war was held at Windsor 
on the 20th of April. The Queen was present, and took such a profound 
interest in public affairs, that she said it was one of the most interest- 
ing scenes she was ever present at, and one which she would not have 
missed for the world. The Emperor and Empress left on the 21st, and 
the Prince Consort escorted them to Dover. A memorandum written 
by the Queen showed that she anticipated much, in a political sense, 
from the Imperial visit. 

A touching scene was witnessed on the 21st of May, in front of the 
Horse Guards, when Her Majesty distributed medals to some of the 
heroes of the war in the East. Many of these gallant soldiers had been 
sadly injured and mutilated in their country's cause, and some were so 
weak they could scarcely stand to receive the medals. Tears of gratifi- 
cation stood in their eyes, that they should receive these honorable dis- 
tinctions from the Queen's own hands. Some of the officers were 
wheeled past Her Majesty in Bath-chairs, and one of these was young 
Sir Thomas Troubridge, who had had both feet carried off in battle, but 
who insisted on commanding his battery to the end, only desiring his 
limbs to be raised in order to stop the loss of blood. The Queen leaned 
over Sir Thomas' chair and handed him his medal, telling him that she 



CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 337 

ai_ypoiiited liim one of lier aides-de-camp; whereupon he replied, "I am 
amply repaid for everything." 

On the 18th of August Her Majesty, accompanied by Prince Albert, 
the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Eoyal, went over to France on a 
visit to the Emperor and Empress. Never since the infant Henry VI. 
Avas crowned at Paris in 1422, had an English Sovereign been seen in 
the beautiful French capital. The Queen's visit was therefore a remark- 
able event, and it was doubly significant as marking the close of the 
"natural enmity" which for centuries had exasperated two hostile 
nations. The royal party landed at Boulogne, where they were received 
by the Emperor, who saluted the Queen, kissing her hand and both 
cheeks. It was late when the visitors made their progress through 
Paris, but Her Majesty saw enough of the capital to be struck by its 
beauty and magnificence. The Palace of St. Cloud was placed at the 
disposal of the Queen and Prince Albert. 

The following day being Sunday Her Majesty kept it as in England. 
On Monday, the Palais des Beaux Arts, a portion of the Great Exposi- 
tion d'Industrie, was visited. Lunch was had at the Elysee, and then 
Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville, the Place de la Bastile, and other mem- 
orable places, were visited. The Queen and the members of her family 
quite won the hearts of the French people by their frank and winning 
manners. Tuesday was devoted to Versailles, with a state visit to the 
opera in the evening. The Emperor was completely drawn out of his 
usual impassiveness by the conversation of the Queen, and the interest 
she manifested in everything. The Municipality of Paris gave a splen- 
did ball in the Hotel de Ville on the evening of Thursday — a ball which 
is said to have surpassed in brilliancy and magnificence all previous 
experience. Next day there was a review of 45,000 troops in the Champ 
de Mars and a visit to the Hospital of the Invalides, to see the resting- 
place of the great Emperor Napoleon. The Palace of St. Germains was 
visited on Saturday, and at night there was a grand fete at the Palace of 
Versailles. The illuminations were magnificent, and when they closed 
with a representation of the towers and battlements of Windsor Castle, 
there was a loud burst of applause from the spectators, succeeded by the 
strains of "God Save the Queen" from the orchestras. 

After two more days filled with delightful and imposing scenes, the 
royal visitors left Paris on the return journey, and proceeded to Bou- 
logne, where — accompanied by the Emperor — Her Majesty reviewed 



228 CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

the magniflceut army encamped on the heights. At nine on the follow- 
ing morning the English Court embarked for Osborne. 

Through the Earl of Clarendon, Her Minister in Attendance, the 
Queen addressed the following official letter to Sir George Grey expres- 
sive of the great pleasure the visit to France had afforded her: "The 
Queen is profoundly sensible of the kindness with which she has been 
received by the Emperor and Empress, and of those manifestations of 
respect and cordiality on the part of the French nation by which she has 
everywhere been greeted. On personal and political grounds the visit to 
Paris has afforded the highest gratification to Her Majesty." 

On the last day of January, 1856, the Queen opened Parliament in 
person under auspicious circumstances. Two months later the war in 
the East was at an end, and peace was signed. London and the prov- 
inces rejoiced greatly over the event. Though the troops had suffered 
severely in the Crimea, British pluck had once more triumphed, and, 
together with her allies, England had gained the victory over the Rus- 
sians. But the struggle had been a fierce and deadly one, and peace 
was everywhere welcomed with enthusiasm. Lord Palmerston, who 
had done much to ensure the later successes of the British arms, was 
created a Knight of the Garter. 

The Queen and Prince Albert reviewed the troops at Aldershot on 
the 18th of April, remaining in camp over night in a pavilion prepared 
for their use. At the first day's review Her Majesty wore a field-mar- 
shal's uniform with the Star and Order of the Garter, and a dark blue 
riding-habit. She also visited the sick and wounded soldiers in the 
Chatham -hospitals, being deeply moved by the sad cases of some of the 
men whom she visited in the wards. One had received four dreadful 
wounds in the Redan, losing both feet; another had had thirteen pieces 
of his skull removed; while a third had received thirty-one wounds in 
the cavalry action at Balaklava. The Queen distributed liberal dona- 
tions amongst the sufferers. On the 23rd of April she held a naval 
review at Spithead, which was on an unprecedented scale, both as to 
the amount of force engaged and the number of spectators attracted. 
Addresses were moved to the Queen by both Houses of Parliament on 
the conclusion of the war and the signing of peace, and in the L^pper 
House Lord Ellesmere, the mover, gave utterance to the national senti- 
ment when he referred to the deep debt of gratitude which the country 
owed to Florence Nightingale. The Lords and Commons went in pro- 



CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 299 

cession to Buckingham Palace to present their addresses to the Queen, 
and Her Majesty subsequently gave a State ball to celebrate the peace. 
Some days later she laid the foundation-stone of the military hospital 
at Netley. 

Her Majesty paid another visit to Alder shot in July, and reviewed 
the troops returned from the Crimea. As the officers and four men of 
each of the regiments which had been under fire "stepped out" of the 
ranks, the Queen stood up in her carriage and thus addressed them: 
"Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, I wish personally to 
convey through you to the regiments assembled here this day my hearty 
welcome on their return to England in health and full efficiency. Say 
to them that I have watched anxiously over the difficulties and hard- 
ships which they have so nobly borne, that I have mourned with deep 
sorrow for the brave men who have fallen in their country's cause, and 
that I have felt proud of that valor which, with their gallant allies, they 
have displayed on every field. I thank God that your dangers are over, 
while the glory of your deeds remains; but I know that should your 
services be again required, you will be animated with the same devotion 
which in the Crimea has rendered you invincible." A great cry of "God 
save the Queen" rent the air when the mellifluous voice became silent; 
helmets, bearskins and shakos were thrown aloft, and the Dragoons 
rendered the scene still more picturesque by waving their sabers. 

In September, 1857, came the terrible news of the mutiny in India, 
and the massacre at Cawnpore. The intelligence of the dramatic relief 
of Lucknow alleviated the gloom to some extent, but the Queen was 
sorely distressed at the severity of the measures adopted to avenge the 
native cruelties. In the following year (August 2), the act for the trans- 
ference of the government of India from the Company to the Crown 
became a law. It was needful that Her Majesty should by proclamation 
inform her Indian subjects of the change in their relation to the Sover- 
eign of Great Britain, and it was of great importance that the proclama- 
tion should be worded with the nicest care for the superstitions, 
prejudices, and sensibilities of the ignorant and suspicious peoples to 
whom it would be addressed. 

The draft proclamation that was submitted by Lord Malmesbury to 
the Queen was a graceless and indiscreet composition, that would 
certainly have resulted in mischief had it been published in Her Majes- 
ty's name as the work of her mind and hand. On perusing it, the Queen 



230 'CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY. 

saw at once that it could not be amended into a satisfactory manifesto, 
and she therefore directed that it should be withheld. She at once 
wrote a letter to her premier, in which she suggested with fine tact that 
he should write a fit proclamation with his own hand. "The Queen," 
she remarked, "would be glad if Lord Derby would write it himself in 
his excellent language, bearing in mind that it is a female Sovereign 
who speaks to more than a hundred millions of Eastern people on 
assuming the direct government over them, and after a bloody civil war, 
giving them pledges which her future reign is to redeem, and explaining 
the principles of her government." 

Thus delicately handled and put upon his mettle, Lord Derby pro- 
duced the masterly composition that was sent out to India as a solemn 
declaration of Her Majesty's intentions and feelings, after she had 
amended it in a few particulars. 

On the 25th of January, 1858, the Princess Eoyal was married to 
Prince Frederick William of Prussia, father of the present Emperor of 
Germany. For days before, the ceremony had been the common topic of 
conversation in society. The Princess was very popular, and the many 
splendid gifts she received were some slight evidence of this popularity. 

This, the first wedding in the Queen's family, was attended with all 
the little home touches which made Her Majesty's life so charming. 
She and the Prince themselves arranged the bride^s presents to be 
viewed by their friends. The details of the marriage ceremony were 
identical with those of the Queen's own wedding. She called it the 
"second most eventful day" in her life, and said that she felt as if she 
were "being married over again herself." The very youthful bride looked 
charming in her white silk and orange blossoms, with the famous 
myrtle in her bouquet, a shoot of which, planted at Osborne, has grown 
into a tree which supplies the royal brides of the present time. The 
marriage was celebrated, like the Queen's, at the Chapel Eoyal St. 
James' Palace, and took place on the 25th of January, 1858. A pretty 
little scene was enacted when, as the bride advanced to the altar, the 
bridegroom knelt to kiss her hand. Unlike her royal mother, the young 
Princess had to leave home and kindred for a foreign land, and the 
parting, after the brief honeymoon at Windsor, was a heart-breaking- 
one for all. The Princess had said to her mother, "I think it will kill 
me to say good-bye to papa;" and when the time came for her to sail 
for Germany, the poor young bride — clever, wilful, independent 



CRIMEAN WAR AND INDIAN MUTINY, 231 

"Vicky" of the old days — ^T\^as quite broken down. The Queen did not 
trust herself to see her daughter off, and those who saw the Prince Con- 
sort's white, rigid face as he took his last look at the departing vessel 
have said that they can never forget its look of sadness. When the 
Princess was saying good-bye to the old people about Balmoral, one 
old "body" up and spoke her mind to the Queen, and expressed her 
opinion that the Princess Koyal was as sorry to leave as they were 
to part with her; then suddenly recollecting herself, she apologized, 
saying, "I mean no harm, but I always say just what I think, not 
what is fut" (fit). The Queen's comment on the incident was "Dear 
old lady, she is such a pleasant person." Her Majesty disliked above 
everything, cringing servility, and delighted in those honest, candid 
people who say what they think, not what is "fut." 

In the following August the Queen and Prince Consort visited their 
daughter in her new home, and the Queen was rejoiced to find her "quite 
the old Vicky still;" but in taking leave of her after a pleasant stay in 
Germany, the royal mother felt sad that it was impossible for her to 
return again to the young Princess at that critical time when "every 
other mother goes to her child." On the 27th of January, 1859, the 
Princess Frederick William was confined of a son, the present Emperor 
William, and Her Majesty found herself at thirty-nine with the ancient 
dignity of "gTandmamma" conferred upon her. In September of 1860 
the Queen and Prince spent some time in Coburg, and were visited 
by "Vicky" and "Fritz" and the wonderful "baby William," who was 
duly brought to grandmamma's room every morning, and was pro- 
nounced "such a darling." 

But the time had come when the shadow of death encompassed the 
life of the beloved Queen. Her mother, the Duchess of Kent, had been 
for some time in declining health, and in March of 1861 the Queen was 
summoned to Frogmore, and found her in a dying condition. She 
passed peacefully away, solaced by the daughter whom she had reared 
with unsurpassed love and care, and to whom her death came as the 
first great grief in life. "What a blessed end !" the Queen writes in her 
diary; "her gentle spirit at rest, her sufferings over! But I — I, wretched 
child — who had lost the mother I so tenderly loved, from whom for 
these forty-one years I had never been parted except for a few weeks — 
what was my case? My childhood — everything seemed to crowd upon 
me at once. I seemed to have lived through a life, to have become old!" 



CHAPTER IX. 
THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

Illne8» of the Prince Consort— Civil War in tlie United States— Tlie Trent Affair, and the 
Complications which Orew out of It— How the Queen and the Prince Consort Averted 
Probable War— A Widowed Queen— Funeral of the Prince Consort— Eastern Tour of the 
Prince of Wales— The International Exhibition— Marriage of the Prince of Wales— The 
Queen Yisits Netley Hospital— She UuTcils a Statue of the Prince Consort— Tisit to Oer- 
many — She Opens the Session of Her Seventh Parliament — War in Germany. 

rHERE is a melancholy interest attached to all the details 
connected with the sickness and death of the Prince Consort. 
The grim destroyer often strikes waywardly; those who 
desire to live are taken, and those who are ready for death 
are left But in the case of the Prince death found him ready ; he was 
perfectly prepared for the end. It is said that not long before his fatal 
illness he said to the Queen: "I do not cling to life. You do; but I set 
no store by it. If I knew those I love were well cared for, I should be 
quite ready to die to-morrow." It has never been accurately ascertained 
how the fever under which he sank originated; but it is strongly sur- 
mised that the first predisposing cause was the Prince's visit to Sand- 
hurst on the 22nd of November. He went to inspect the buildings for 
the new Staff College and Military Academy, and as the day was one 
of incessant rain, he suffered from exposure and fatigue. Next day 
came the distressing news of the death of the young King of Portugal, 
and other members of his family, from malignant typhoid fever; and 
this intelligence weighed heavily upon the Prince's spirits. 

On the 24th, which was Sunday, the Prince complained of being full 
of rheumatic pains, and wrote in his diary that he had scarcely closed 
his eyes for the past fortnight. Next morning, although the weather 
was cold and stormy, he journeyed to Cambridge to visit the Prince of 
Wales. He still got worse; and political questions which grew out of 
the Civil War then in progress in the United States were a source of 
great anxiety. It was a period of uncertainty in the relations of the two 
countries, the governing classes of England largely favoring the South- 
ern States and the masses remaining in sympathy with the North. Per- 

233 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 233 

haps more than to any other influence it was due to Queen Victoria and 
the Prince Consort that there was no outbreak of war between Great 
Britain and the United States. 

In November, 1861, Captain Wilkes, of the San Jacinto, an American 
man-of-war, intercepted the British mail steamship Trent outside the 
Havana harbor, and took from that vessel Messrs. Mason and Slidell, 
Envoys of the Confederate Government, accredited respectively to 
England and France. They had run the blockade from Charleston to 
Cuba and were on their way to Europe. Upon first receipt of the news 
in the United States the country was delighted at this evidence of cour- 
age, but it soon became evident that the matter w^as more serious and 
would need to be treated delicately in order to avoid war with the 
powers. 

That Captain Wilkes, of the San Jacinto, had violated international 
law was indisputable. Should he be found to have acted in the matter 
under general or particular authority from his Government, war was 
almost certain. Even if the American captain should have acted with- 
out authority, the most serious difficulties might result from his rash 
action. The prevailing opinion of Englishmen was that, though she 
would show her usual respect for international law and admit the 
captain's error, America might take exception to the tone of the British 
demand, and on that ground decline to render a satisfactory apology. 
War is in the air when a proud, sensitive and greatly powerful nation 
demands an apology from a nation no less powerful, sensitive and 
proud. For manifest reasons. Her Majesty was especially desirous that 
her demand on America should be made with delicate care for American 
sensibility, and should take as far as possible the form of a respectful 
appeal to the honor and justice of the American people. 

On November 30, 1861, the Queen received from her Foreign Secre- 
tary the drafts of several despatches, which it was proposed to send to 
Lord Lyons, her Ambassador at Washington; and it appeared both to 
Her Majesty and the Prince Cbnsort that the most important Of these 
drafts — the draft for the despatch touching the Trent affair — was 
maladroit and insufficiently considerate for the sensitiveness of the 
American Government. As it expressed neither a hope that Captain 
Wilkes would be found to have exceeded his instructions, nor a belief 
that the American Government would offer Her Majesty sufficient 
redress, the despatch might be read at Washington as implying that 



234 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

Her Majesty's Ministers were unable to entertain either the belief or 
the hope. The despatch's silence on these points might operate as an 
offensive suggestion. On the other hand, if it were amended so as to 
show a disposition on the part of the British Government to take the 
most favorable view of the matter, the despatch would conciliate Amer- 
ican sentiment and render it easy for the Washington Government to 
retire with dignity from a position of extreme embarrassment. 

The Prince Consort, notwithstanding his dangerous illness, drafted 
a letter for the Queen "to write to Lord Russell in correction of his draft- 
despatch to Lord Lyons" — a letter drawn in accordance with the con- 
clusions to which he and Her Majesty came after a night spent in care- 
ful consideration of the momentous affair. However, the Queen did not 
adopt this draft without amending it in several particulars. Having 
so amended it, she copied it with her own hand and sent the transcript 
to Lbrd Russell. A facsimile of the Prince Consort's draft-letter appears 
in Sir Theodore Martin's Life of the Prince Consort, where it is also 
shown how the suggestions and almost the very words of the draft- 
letter were adopted by the Government, and worked into a dispatch to 
Lord Lyons — the conciliatory despatch which afforded Mr. Secretary 
Seward so much relief and satisfaction, because it was "courteous and 
friendly, — not dictatorial and menacing." Indeed, the amended des- 
patch was not devoid of menace, for it contained these strong and reso- 
lute words : "For the Government of the United States must be aware 
that the British Government could not allow such an affront to the 
national honor to pass without full reparation;" but these resolute 
words were associated with friendly avowals of the British Govern- 
ment's confidence that the American Government would do what was 
right. 

Apart from its testimony to the Prince Consort's share in the pro- 
duction of the despatch that probably prevented war between Great 
Britain and the United States, Sir Theodore Martin's facsimile has 
claims on the student's consideration. It is an example of the way in 
which the Queen and her political secretary discharged one of the 
most important functions of their joint sovereignty. On seeing reason 
for dissatisfaction with a draft-despatch sent to them from the Foreign 
Office, the}^ first consulted together and came to one mind respecting 
the changes to be made in the document. In his purely secretarial 
capacity, the Prince Consort then drafted the letter, setting forth their 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 235 

joint conclusions, as though the opinions of the two associates were the 
opinions cf the one constitutional sovereign. After considering this 
draft-note, and amending its minor details, the Queen copied it with her 
own hand, so that it had the appearance of being her separate and inde- 
pendent performance, and sent the transcript to the Minister. It re- 
mained of course with the responsible Ministers to decide to what ex- 
tent they should adopt the suggestions of the note. In some cases the 
Cabinet declined to act in accordance with Her Majesty's recommenda- 
tions. But usually they yielded to her judgment; and after doing so on 
momentous questions like the grave question of peace or war with 
America, it has again and again happened that they had occasion to 
congratulate themselves on taking her wise and dispassionate counsel. 

Moreover, the facsimile of the joint-draft given to the world in Sir 
Theodore Martin's book is peculiarly interesting as a memorial of the 
last piece of work done by the Prince Consort for the advantage of his 
adopted country — for the advantage of the people whom he served so 
faithfully, w^hilst some of his fellow-countrymen w^ere quick to suspect 
his integrity. When he put the draft-note into the Queen's hands on 
Sunday, December 1, 1861, the Prince Consort spoke of the difficulty he 
had experienced in guiding the pen with which he made the writing. In 
speaking of his illness the Prince said it was well it w^as not fever, "as 
that, he felt sure, would be fatal to him." Lord Palmerston, who was 
not one as a rule to take gloomy views, was so alarmed by what he 
heard at the castle, that he suggested the calling in of another physi- 
cian. Dr. Jenner and Sir James Clark, however, rer.ssured the Queen 
with the hope that the fever which was feared might pass off. 

There was nothing now left to do but to wait and hope for the best; 
but unfortunately the Prince lost strength daily, and there would some- 
times be a "strange wild look" upon his face. He would smile when his 
pet child, Princess Beatrice, was brought to him, but his most constant 
companion was the Princess Alice. Fever now unmistakably declared 
itself, and a knowledge of the unfavorable change could no longer be 
kept from the Queen. On December 8 the sufferer was moved into a 
more commodious room, and as fate would have it, it was the very room 
in which both William lY. and George IV. had died. As the days went 
by, the Prince became gradually weaker, and the last hope was at 
length abandoned. On the morning of December 14, surrounded by 



236 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

members of the royal family, he passed to "where beyond these voices 
there is peace." 

Queen Victoria kneeling at the death-bed of her "dear lord and mas- 
ter," as she ever called the Prince Consort, will remain one of the most 
pathetic scenes in the history of Great Britain. Queen she remained to 
the end, in spite of her woman's anguish. When the last sigh was 
heaved, and the spirit of her beloved had fled, she gently loosed the 
hand which she had held as he passed through the valley of the shadow 
of death, saw the lids closed over the eyes which to the last had turned 
their love-light upon her, rose from the bedside, thanked the physicians 
for their skill and attention, spoke some soothing words to her orphaned 
children sobbing around the bed, and, walking from the room calm and 
erect, sought the solitude of her chamber, and went through her Geth- 
semane alone. 

Away in the city the great bell of St. Paul's tolled the sad tidings 
through the midnight air, and next morning — Sunday — it seemed that 
a pall had fallen over the land, and there was scarce a dry eye in the 
churches when the Prince Consort's name was significantly omitted 
from the Litany, and the ministers impressively paused in the prayer for 
"the fatherless children and widows, and all that are desolate and op- 
pressed." To many, indeed, this was the first intimation of the great 
loss which the monarch and the country had sustained. As the awe- 
struck worshippers dispersed they gathered in little knots, and spoke 
in whispers of t/ie grief-stricken wife at Royal Windsor, recalled her 
joy-days, when, gt y as a lark, she had entered the Abbey on her corona- 
tion day, or walked from the altar a proud and happy bride, and again 
had hung with a mother's love over the cradle of her little ones; and 
now, in the heyday of life and happiness she was a widowed Queen, 
more desolate by reason of her exalted position than any woman in the 
land, similarly bereft. That angel of comfort, Princess Alice, whose 
lovely character all the world reveres, was the support of her mother in 
this time of sorrow. She was aided in her ministrations by Lady 
Augusta Bruce (afterwards the wife of Dean Stanley), who had been 
the beloved friend and attendant of the Duchess of Kent in her last 
years; and by that other dear friend of the Queen, the Duchess of Suth- 
erland, herself but lately a widow, who was specially summoned by her 
royal mistress to stay with her at this time of bereavement. Anxious 
days and nights were passed by these devoted ladies in the Queen'^ 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 23? 

room, for tlie reaction from the enforced restraint had been so great 
that Her Majesty was completely prostrated, and her pulse became so 
weak at one time that death appeared imminent. It is scarcely realized 
to-day how near the country was to a double tragedy, and when the 
tidings were flashed through the land that at last the Queen had ob- 
tained some hours' sleep it seemed like the joy-bells succeeding the 
funeral peal. The feelings of the people were beautifully expressed by 
Mrs. Crosland in her poem: 

"Sleep, for the night is round thee spread. 
Thou daughter of a line of kings; 
Sleep, widowed Queen, while angels' wings 
Make canopy above thy head! 

"Sleep, while a million prayers rise up 
To Him who knew all earthly sorrow, 
That day by day each soft to-morrow 
May melt the bitter from thy cup." 

When the first agony of her grief was over, the Queen summoned 
her children around her, and told them that, though she felt crushed by 
her loss, she knew what her position demanded, and asked them to help 
her in fulfilling her duty to the country- and to them. Little Prince 
Leopold, the delicate one of the Queen's bairns, who was at this time at 
Cannes for his health, when told that his father was dead, cried pite- 
ously, "Do take me to my mamma;" and that old-fashioned little tot, 
Baby Beatrice, would climb on her mother's knee to look at "mamma's 
sad cap." Fearing the worst consequences should Her Majesty have 
another relapse, the physicians were urgent that she should leave 
Windsor before the funeral took place; but the Queen cried bitterly at 
the suggestion, saying that her subjects never left their homes or the 
remains of their dear ones at such times, and why should she. It was 
Only w^hen Princess Alice represented to her that the younger children 
might suffer if they remained in the fever-tainted Castle that she con- 
sented to go with them to Osborne. Before leaving she drove to Frog- 
more, where only ten months before she laid to rest her devoted mother, 
and walking round the gardens on the arm of Princess Alice, chose a 
bright sunny spot to bury her dead. The same feeling which led the 
Queen to create homes of her own, apart from the royal palaces, 
prompted her to have a family burying-place. With a truly democratic 



338 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

spirit, Her Majesty preserved her own individuality, and declined to be 
considered a mere royalty, whose affairs were to be regulated by the 
State, and whose body must lie in a cold and dreary royal vault, along 
with kings and queens for whom she cared nothing at all. When the sad 
time came, England's greatest monarch lay beside her mother and 
husband in the beautiful God's acre of her own choosing. The funeral 
of the Prince Consort took place, with the honors befitting so great and 
good a Prince, on the 23d of December, 1861, the coffin being tempor- 
arily placed at the entrance to St. George's Chapel, Windsor, until the 
beautiful mausoleum had been built at Frogmore; upon the lid were 
laid wreaths of green moss and violets, made by the Queen and Prin- 
cess Alice. The unmistakable reality of the sorrow at the funeral was 
very striking, and was manifested, not only by the heartbroken sobs of 
the young Princes, but by the tears of veteran statesmen and ambassa- 
dors mingling with those who were of royal kin. Though there can be 
no doubt that the Prince had won for himself a place in the hearts of 
those present, one feels that the tears flowed as much in sympathy for 
her who sorrowed as for him who was gone. In reading the letters and 
memoirs of courtiers of this period, it is evident that they felt that the 
Queen had well-nigh received her death-blow; all speak of her calm, 
pathetic sorrow being heartbreaking to witness. Amongst others, Lord 
Shaftesbury writes at this time: "The desolation of the Queen's heart 
and life, the death-blow to her happiness on earth! God in His mercy 
sustain and comfort! The disruption of domestic existence, unprece- 
dented in royal history, the painful withdrawal of a prop, the removal 
of a counsellor, a friend in all public and private affairs, the sorrows she 
has, the troubles that await her — all rend my heart as though the 
suffering were my own." 

Her Majesty spent the first three months of her widowhood in abso- 
lute retirement at Osborne, where she was greatly comforted by her 
beloved half-sister, the Princess Hohenlohe, who had hastened from 
Germany to her side. The Princess told Dean Stanley that the Queen 
found "her only comfort in the belief that her husband's spirit was close 
beside her — for he had promised her that it should be so;" and she 
further related that the Queen would go each morning to visit the cows 
on the Prince's model farm, because he used to do it, and she fancied the 
gentle creatures would miss him. King Leopold of Belgium, ever Her 
Majesty's support and counsellor,- as he had been that of her widowed 




H 

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o 

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THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. Ml 

mother, was also at Osborne at this time; but even with near and 
trusted relations certain reserve and etiquette had to be observed by 
the Queen, and one can understand the bitterness of her cry, "There 
is no one left to call me 'Victoria' now." Mother and husband had both 
been taken within a year, and the old royal family, those elderly aunts 
and uncles who had been about her in her youth, were passing one by 
one into the silent land. The Prince of Wales was not of an age to take 
any responsible position, and shortly after his father's death set out, in 
accordance with the Prince Consort's plans, which the Queen would 
not have put on one side, for a prolonged tour in the East, accompanied 
by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (Dean of Westminster). The Queen's eldest 
daughter was bound by the ties of her German home, and it was there- 
fore upon Princess Alice that everything devolved during those first 
terrible weeks. The nation has never forgotten the tact and judgment 
in dealing with Ministers and officials, in the Queen's place, shown by 
this young girl of eighteen, and her remarkable conduct called forth a 
special article in the Times. 

The advocates of modern funeral reform might complain that Her 
Majesty was too punctilious in her outward signs of mourning; but, as 
she once playfully said to Lord Melbourne in her young days, "What is 
the use of being a queen if you cannot do as you like?" It is said that 
she refused to sign a commission because the paper was not bordered 
with black; and we know that for at least eight years after the Prince 
Consort's death the royal servants wore a band of crepe upon the left 
arm, while in her own attire Her Majesty never, throughout the suc- 
ceeding years of her widowhood, wore any but mourning colors. 

Gradually the sovereign began to evince a renewed interest in State 
affairs, and the Princess Alice was made the principal medium of com- 
munication between her and her Ministers. On May 1 the International 
Exhibition was opened, amid much pomp and ceremony. In his inau- 
guration ode, the poet laureate thus happily recalled Prince Albert's 
deep interest in these peaceful triumphs of art and commerce: 

"O, silent father of our kings to be. 
Mourned in this golden hour of jubilee, 
For this, for all, we weep our thanks to thee!" 

The marriage of Princess Alice to Prince Louis of Hesse, which had 
been delayed by the Prince Consort's death, took place at Osborne on 



S4« THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

July 1, the ceremony being of a private character. The Archbishop of 
iTork officiated; and the Queen attended in deep mourning, and with- 
out a vestige of state. In August the court went to Balmoral; and, on 
the 21st of that month, the Queen drove in a little carriage to cooperate 
with six of her children in laying the foundation of a cairn in memory 
of the Prince Consort, — the cairn, forty feet wide and thirty-five feet 
high, that, overlooking the valley, reminds wayfarers of a lofty nature 
and noble life. In the following month the Queen went to Belgium and 
Germany, taking with her those of her children who were under her 
personal control. It was at this time that Her Majesty first met the 
Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who was soon to become the Princess 
of Wales. On December 18, the fourth day after the first anniversary 
of his death, the body of the Prince Consort was removed from St. 
George's Chapel, in the presence of the Prince of Wales, Prince Arthur, 
Prince Leopold, and Prince Louis of Hesse, and placed in the mauso- 
leum at Frogmore, the royal tomb erected by Her Majesty at a cost of 
more than £200,000, paid out of her privy purse. 

On March 10, 1863, the Queen witnessed from the royal closet the 
brilliant celebration of the Prince of Wales' wedding with the Princess 
Alexandra of Denmark in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, and 
in her widow's dress received the bridal pair at the entrance of the 
castle, on their return from the ceremony at the chapel. An event that 
stirred Her Majest3''s heart no less deeply than the wedding of her son 
took place on Easter Sunday, April 5. On that day the Princess Alice, 
who had been staying in England since the middle of the preceding 
November, gave birth to her first-born child at Windsor Castle. 

On May 9 Her Majesty paid a long visit to the military hospital at 
Netley, the foundation-stone of which she laid seven years before. On 
that occasion she had been accompanied by the Prince Consort, who 
took great interest in the Hospital, and afterwards visited it many 
times. This later visit by the Queen was strictly private. Before she 
went into the hospital. Her Majesty went first to view the foundation- 
stone. She bore the visit firmh^, though she was evidently moved by 
painful reminiscences. Subsequently she went through a great many 
of the wards. In one ward an old soldier from India lay nearly at the 
point of death. When the Queen had spoken to him, he said : "I thank 
God that He has allowed me to live long enough to see your Majesty 
;with my own eyes." The Queen and the Princess Alice were much 



THE QUEEN 'AND THE UNITED STATES. 243 

touched by his speech, which evidently came from the heart. As Her 
Majesty passed along, the corridors were thronged with Indian inva- 
lids, fine old soldiers, bearded and bronzed, some of whom were over- 
come with emotion at the kindly recognition of their sovereign. The 
women's quarters were next visited, and altogether the Queen walked 
over several miles of ground. Wherever she went her royal and 
womanly bearing deeply affected all who were honored by her kindly 
notice and attention. 

Her Majesty paid a visit to Belgium and Germany in August and 
September, being accompanied by the Princesses Helena and Beatrice 
and Princes Alfred and Leopold. The royal party crossed over from 
Greenhithe to Antwerp in the Victoria and Albert. The King of the 
Belgians received the Queen and her children at Scharbeck, and drove 
with them to Laeken. From thence the royal party traveled to the 
Castle of Rosenau, near Ooburg, where Her Majesty made a considerable 
stay, and where she was joined by the Oowm Prince and Princess of 
Prussia, and Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse. Though shattered in 
health, the Queen received visits from the King of Prussia and the 
Emperor of Austria. Leaving Rosenau on the 7th of September, the 
Queen spent a day with her daughter, the Princess Alice, and her family, 
at Kranichstein, near Darmstadt, and then returned to England. 

The following month Her Majesty was again at Balmoral, where she 
erected the Cairn to the Prince Consort on the Craig Lowrigan. "I and 
my poor six orphans," she writes, "all placed stones on it, and our ini- 
tials, as well as those of the three absent ones." Below the inscription 
is the beautiful motto from the Apocrypha chosen by the Princess 
Koyal : 

"He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time; 
For his soul pleased the Lord. 
Therefore hastened He to take him away from among the wicked." 

During the first years of her widowhood the Queen could not bear 
to listen to music, still less to take part in its performance, which had 
hitherto been such a delight to her; neither did she feel able to amuse 
herself with her favorite pastime of sketching. Mr. Leitch, the artist, 
who was drawing-master to the Queen and royal family for twenty-two 
years, describes in a letter to his mother the sadly altered life at Bal- 
moral at this period. He writes: "The Queen is still the kind, good, 



244 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

gracious lady that she always was ; but I need hardly tell you that there 
is a change. Indeed the whole place is changed. Everything very quiet 
and still. How different from my first visit here—the joyous bustle in 
the morning when the Prince went out; the Highland ponies and the 
dogs; the gillies and the pipers coming home; the Queen and her ladies 
going out to meet them ; and the merry time afterwards ; the torchlight 
sword dances on the green, and the servants' ball closing." 

An alarming accident happened to the Queen on the 7th of October, 
as she was returning with the Princesses Alice and Helena from nn 
expedition to Altnagiuthasac. The usual coachman. Smith, was driving 
the royal party, but after proceeding about two miles in the darkness, 
though along a good road, the carriage turned over on its side, and all 
the occupants were precipitated to the ground. Her Majesty came down 
very hard, with her face upon the ground. Both horses were also down, 
and the scene was one of danger and anxiety. John Brown called out 
in despair, "The Lord Almighty have mercy on us ! Who did ever see the 
like of this before? I thought you were all killed." The Princesses were 
entangled by their clothing, but w^ere eventually released without 
injury. The traces of the carriage were cut, and the horses got up 
unhurt. The ladies then sat down in the carriage, covered with plaids. 
The Queen's face was a good deal bruised and swollen, and a little claret 
was all that could be got to bathe it with. After sitting for some half 
hour in the dark, a sers^ant who had gone on before with the ponies, 
feeling alarmed lest a disaster should have occuiTed, returned to the 
spot with the ponies. The Queen and her daughters then rode home. 
No one at Balmoral knew what had happened, but Her Majesty told her 
sons-in-law, the Crown Prince of Prussia and Prince Louis of Hesse, 
who had long been awaiting the arrival of the party. 

A few days afterwards the Queen went to Aberdeen to unveil the 
statue of the Prince Consort. She has left on record how terribly nervous 
she was, and that she longed not to have to go through the ordeal. Her 
Majesty was accompanied by the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, 
Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse, Princesses Helena and Louise 
and Princes Arthur and Leopold. The day was very wet. There 
was a long, sad, and melancholy procession through the crowded streets 
of Aberdeen, where all were kindly, yet where ail were silent. The Queen 
trembled during the ceremony, which was the first she had attended in 
public since her husband's death. An address was presented, and Her 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 245 

Majesty knighted the Provost, a reply being afterwards forwarded to 
the address. The Prince's statue, by Maroehetti, was considered to be 
very faithful and lifelike. After it had been unveiled, the Queen, who 
appeared much depressed, scanned it for some time narrowly. 

On the 14th of December, the anniversary of the Prince's death, the 
Queen, accompanied by all the members of the royal family, proceeded 
at an early hour from Windsor Castle to the Royal Mausoleum at Frog- 
more, where a devotional service was held. This was afterward observed 
as an annual custom, and all the members of the household, including 
the servants, were likewise permitted to pay their tribute of respect 
to the memory of the Prince. This wonderfully beautiful tomb, as the 
Princess Alice described it, with all its elaborate decorations, was 
erected at a cost of upwards of £200,000, which was entirely defrayed 
from Her Majesty's privy purse. 

A joyful but unexpected event occurred at Frogmore on the Sth of 
January, 1864, when the Princess of Wales was prematurely confined of 
a son. Prince Albert Victor. There was no nurse in attendance, and 
no preparation had been made for the advent of "the little stranger," 
who had not been expected until March. The Queen was immediately 
apprised of the happy news of the birth of a direct heir to the Crown. 
The Prince was christened at Buckingham Palace on the first anniver- 
sary of his parents' marriage. The Princess of Wales made a speedy 
recovery, and congratulations poured in upon the Prince and Princess, 
and also upon the Queen, on the birth of the infant Prince. 

Her Majesty's birthday was kept in May, 1864, with all the old tokens 
of state and rejoicing, an event which had not been observed since 1861. 
There were the usual salutes from the Tower and the Park, and a grand 
review of the household troops on the parade behind the Horse Guards. 
In the following August, on her way to Balmoral, the Queen inaugurated 
a statue of the Prince Consort at Perth. She was accompanied on this 
occasion by several members of her family, and by the Duke and Duchess 
of Sax'e-Coburg-Gotha. In the following year, Prince Alfred, on attain- 
ing his majority, was formally adopted by the Duke of Saxe-Coburg as 
his heir. 

On the 1st of January, 1865, the Queen once more manifested her 
solicitude for her subjects by causing a letter to be M'ritten to the direc- 
tors of the leading railway companies, calling attention to the increasing 
number of accidents which had latelv occurred on various lines of rail- 



246 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

road. "It is not for her own safety," wrote Sir Charles Phipps, "that 
the Queen has wished to provide in thus calling the attention of the 
company to the late disasters; Her Majesty is aware that when she 
travels extraordinary precautions are taken; but it is on account of her 
family, and those traveling upon her service, and of the people gener- 
ally, that she expresses the hope that the same security may be insured 
for all as is so carefully provided for herself. The Queen hopes it is 
unnecessary for her to recall to the recollection of the railway directors 
the heavy responsibility which they have assumed since they have suc- 
ceeded in securing the monopoly of the means of traveling of almost 
the entire population of the country." This letter received from the 
press and from the directors of the various railway companies the atten- 
tion which its importance deserved. 

Her Majesty visited the Consumption Hospital at Brompton on the 
14th of March, going through the four galleries called respectively the 
"Victoria," the "Albert," the "Foulis," and the "Jenny Lind." She 
entered many of the wards, speaking to several of the bed-ridden 
patients, and bestowing kindly smiles and sympathizing looks upon all; 
and then she visited in turn the chapel, the vestry, the library, and the 
kitchens. 

When England w^as startled by the sad news of the assassination of 
Abraham Lincoln, the Queen wrote with her own hand a touching letter 
of condolence to the widow of the late President. Addresses upon the 
untoward event were presented to the Crown by the two Houses of 
Parliament, and to these addresses Her Majesty returned the following 
reply: "I entirely participate in the sentiments you have expressed in 
your address to me on the subject of the assassination of the President 
of the United States, and I have given directions to my Minister at 
Washington to make known to the Government of that country the 
feelings which you entertain, in common with myself and my whole 
people, with regard to this deplorable event." 

On the 8th of August the Queen left England on a visit to Germany, 
accompanied by Prince Leopold and the Princesses Helena, Louise and 
Beatrice. The illustrious party embarked at the Koyal Arsenal pier on 
board the steam yacht Alberta, under the command of Prince Leiningen. 
Coburg was reached on the 11th, and the Queen at once proceeded to 
Kosenau. The birthday of the Prince Consort was celebrated by the 
inauguration of a costly monument to his memory at Coburg. It took 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. Ul 

the shape of a gilt bronze statue, ten feet high, which was unveiled in 
the public square of the town. On the conclusion of the ceremony, the 
Queen, accompanied by her children, walked across the square, and 
handed to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg a large bouquet of flowers, which 
he laid on the pedestal. All the children did the same, until the flowers 
rose to the feet of the statue. Princess Alice writes of the "terrible suf- 
ferings" of the flrst three years of the Queen's widowhood, but adds that 
after the long storm came rest, so that the daughter could tenderly 
remind the mother, without reopening the wound, of the happy silver 
wedding which might have been this year, when the royal parents would 
have been surrounded by so many grandchildren in fresh young house- 
holds. The royal family returned from Germany on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, visiting King Leopold at Ostend on the journey. 

Her Majesty spent September and October in the Highlands. In 
addition to an expedition to Invermark she went to Dunkeld on a visit 
to the Duchess of Athole. This visit was strictly private, and the Queen 
found comfort in the companionship of the Duchess, who, like herself, 
had been bereaved of her husband. "The life was even quieter than at 
Balmoral. Her Majesty breakfasted with the daughter who accom- 
panied her, lunched and dined with the Princess, Duchess, and one or 
more ladies. There were long drives, rides, and rows on the lochs, some- 
times in mist and rain, among beautiful scenery, like that which had 
been a solace in the days of deepest sorrow; tea amongst the bracken 
or the heather, or in some wayside house ; friendly chats, peaceful read- 
ings." 

In October the popular Premier, Lord Palmerston, died, and the 
Queen keenly felt his loss, forgetting the intractability he had displayed 
some years before. But the year 1865 closed with a much greater per- 
sonal loss than this: on the 9th of December Her Majesty's uncle. King 
Tieopold, passed away at the age of seventy-six. In the deceased King, 
Queen Victoria not only mourned a dear relative, but a faithful friend 
and counsellor — one whose sympathy and advice had been constant and 
unfailing ever since she ascended the throne. 

The flrst occasion on w^hich Her Majesty attended any State cere- 
mony after the death of the Prince Consort was on the 6th of February, 
1866, when she opened the flrst session of her seventh Parliament. The 
event attracted much attention, and gave great satisfaction. Enthu- 
siastic crowds lined the whole route of the procession to the Houses of 



248 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

Parliament. In the House of Lords the scene was one of great splendor, 
peers and peeresses being resplendent in their robes and jewels. After 
prayers had been read by the Bishop of Ely, at a signal from the Usher 
of the Black Rod the whole assembly rose en masse — peers, peeresses, 
bishops, judges, and the foreign ambassadors — to receive the Prince 
and Princess of Wales. The Princess was escorted to the place of honor 
on the woolsack, immediately fronting the throne. Shortly afterwards 
the whole assembly rose again; the door to the right of the throne was 
flung open, and the Queen entered, preceded by the State officials. Her 
Majesty, who was attired in half -mourning, walked with slow steps to 
the throne, stopping on the way to shake hands with the Princess of 
Wales. The Queen wore a deep purple velvet robe trimmed with white 
miniver, and a white lace cap a la Marie Stuart; around her neck was 
a collar of brilliants, and over her breast the blue riband of the Order of 
the Garter. During the proceedings and the reading of the royal speech 
the Queen sat silent and motionless, with her eyes fixed upon the ground. 
She appeared wrapt in contemplation, and was doubtless moved by 
reminiscences of the time when she stood, proud and happy, with her 
husband by her side, and took an active part in this august ceremony. 
When the Lord Chancellor had concluded the reading of the speech. Her 
Majesty rose from the throne, stepped slowly down, kissed the Prince 
of Wales, .»who sat almost at her feet, and shook hands with Prince 
Christian. Escorted by the heir to the Crown, and followed by the Prin- 
cess of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, the Queen retired by the door 
at which she had entered, with the usual ceremonies in which heralds 
and Garter kings-of-arms delight. 

A new decoration, styled the Albert Medal, was instituted by royal 
sign-manual in March. It was to be awarded to those who should, after 
the date of the warrant, endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavor- 
ing to save, the lives of others from shipwreck or other peril of the sea. 

On the 13th of March, for the first time during five years, the Queen 
visited the camp at Aldershot, and reviewed the troops in garrison. She 
was accompanied by Princess Helena and the Princess Hohenlohe. The 
inspection was followed by a grand march past of the regiments, and 
then the royal party drove through the South Camp by way of the Prince 
Consort's library to the artillery and cavalry barracks, and by the main 
road past the Memorial Church to the Pavilion, where luncheon was 
served. In the afternoon there was a review of the cavalry, artillery, 




Henky VIII. Gate, Windsor Castle 




One of the Corridobs at Windsor Castle 

Showing marble busts of former English Kings and Queens. 




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I Is 



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THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 253 

pontoon, and military trains. Not long afterwards Her Majesty paid a 
second visit to Aldershot, the cause of this latter visit being the presen- 
tation of a new pair of colors to the gallant Eighty-ninth Kegiment, in 
lieu of the battered shreds which the corps had with great distinction 
borne in all parts of the world for the past thirty-three years. 

The eminent American philanthropist, Mr. Peabody, having about 
this time added to his splendid gift for the improvement of the dwellings 
of the poor of London another munificent donation, the Queen signified 
her intention of presenting him with a miniature portrait of herself, 
specially painted. She would gladly have conferred upon him either a 
baronetcy or the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, but he felt him- 
self debarred from accepting such distinctions. In thanking the Queen 
for the honor done him for his efforts in connection with the x>oor of 
London, Mr. Peabody wrote: "Next to the approval of my own con- 
science, I shall always prize the assurance which Your Majesty's letter 
conveys to me of the approbation of the Queen of England, whose whole 
life has attested that her exalted station has in no degree diminished 
her sympathy with the humblest of her subjects. The portrait which 
Your Majesty is graciously pleased to bestow on me I shall value as the 
most precious heirloom that I can leave in the land of my birth, where, 
together with the letter which Your Majesty has addressed to me, it will 
ever be regarded as an evidence of the kindly feeling of the Queen of 
the United Kingdom towards a citizen of the United States." 

Two marriages were celebrated in the royal circle in 1866. The first 
was that of the Princess Mary of Cambridge to Prince Teck, which took 
place at the village church of Kew on the 12th of June. The Queen was 
present, and looked remarkably well, but it was noticed that she was 
attired in mourning so deep that not even a speck of white relieved the 
somberness. On the 5th of July Her Majesty's third daughter, the 
Princess Helena, was married in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 
to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the bride being in her twenty- 
first and the bridegroom in his thirty-sixth year. The Princess was 
accompanied to the altar by her mother and the Prince of Wales, and 
the Queen gave her daughter away. 

The war in Germany this year saw the husbands of two of the 
Queen's daughters ranged on opposite sides. During the progress of the 
war in the immediate vicinity of Darmstadt the third daughter of Prin- 
cess Alice was born. The mother was deeply concerned for her husband 



354 THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. 

in the field, but eventually he was restored to her in safety. Austria was 
utterly worsted in the conflict, and Prussia ultimately annexed Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel, etc., as the spoils of victory. 

In October the Queen evinced her interest in the sanitary concerns 
of the people by opening the fine new waterworks at Aberdeen. In 1806 
the daily water supply of Aberdeen was only 60,000 gallons, but the new 
waterworks would furnish a supply of 6,000,000 gallons of pure water 
from the Dee. An address was presented to the Queen by the Commis- 
sioners, and Her Majesty, speaking for the first time in public since her 
great loss, said: "I have felt that at a time when the attention of the 
country has been so anxiously directed to the state of the public health 
it was right that I should make an exertion to testify my sense of tbe 
importance of a 'work so well calculated as this to promote the health 
and comfort of your ancient city." 

At the close of this year the growing discontent of the people that 
Her Majesty showed no disposition to resume her old place in Court 
functions was made the occasion of public demonstration at a meeting 
at St. James' Hall, in support of the enfranchisement of the working 
classes, w^hen Mr. Ayrton, M. P., condemned the Queen's retirement in 
strong terms. This brought John Bright to his feet, who warmly vindi- 
cated Her Majesty from Mr. Ayrton's charge that she had neglected her 
duty to society. "I am not accustomed," said Mr. Bright, "to stand up 
in defense of those who are the possessors of crowns, but I feel that 
there has been a great injustice done to the Queen, and I venture to say 
this, that a woman — be she the queen of a great realm or the wife of 
one of your laboring men — who can keep alive in her heart a great 
sorrow for the lost object of her life and affection, is not at all likely to 
be wanting in a great and generous sympathy with you." As the great 
orator ceased, a remarkable ovation took place, the entire audience 
rising and singing "God Save the Queen" with every demonstration of 
love and loyalty. 

When two years later the name of John Bright was submitted to 
Her Majesty for a seat in Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet, she expressed her 
pleasure, saying that she was under the greatest obligation to him for 
the many kind words he had spoken of her, and despatched a special 
messenger to tell Mr. Bright that if it was more agreeable to his feelings 
as a Quaker to omit the ceremony of kneeling and kissing hands, he was 
at liberty to do so, of which permission Mr. Bright availed himself. The 



THE QUEEN AND THE UNITED STATES. »55 

Princess Royal was present during his reception at Windsor, and told 
him that both herself and all the members of the royal family were 
greatly indebted to him for the way in which he had spoken of their 
mother. Mr. Bright has recorded his estimate of the Queen's character 
to the effect that she was the "most absolutely straightforward and 
truthful person" he had ever known. 



CHAPTER X. 
YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

Extension of the Elective Franchise— Federation of Canada— Fenian Troubles in Ireland — 
Mr. Gladstone's Irish Church Resolutions— The Queen Tisits Switzerland— War Between 
France and Germany— Marriage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lome — Illness 
of the Prince of Wales— Fatal Accident to a Grandson of the Queen— The Prince of 
Wales Visits India. 

IN FEBEUARY, 1867, the Queen opened Parliament for the session 
that gave the country a measure of electoral reform even more 
momentous than the great reform bill of William the Fourth's 
time, for the working classes were by this legislation given a very 
important share in the government of the country. The Queen was 
heartily in favor of these measures, and it was largely due to her 
influence that they became part of the laws of the land. 

This year also saw Canada federated. The Imperial act, known as 
"the British North American Act, 1867," provided for the voluntary 
union of the whole of British North America into one general confeder- 
ation, under the name of the Dominion of Canada. The Dominion thus 
constituted consists at present of the old provinces of Upper and Lower 
Canada, now designated respectively Ontario and Quebec, along with 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, British 
Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Provision is also made in the 
Imperial act for the admission of Newfoundland into the confederacy. 
It is further provided that the constitution of the Dominion shall be 
"similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom;" that the executive 
authority shall be vested in the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, 
and carried on in his name by a governor-general and privy council; and 
that the legislative power shall be exercised by a parliament consisting 
of an Upper House, or "Senate," the members of which are nominated 
for life, by summons under the great seal of Canada, and a "House of 
Commons," duly elected by the several constituencies of the various 
provinces in proportion to the relative population of each. 

During the year 1867 the feeling of discontent in Ireland again maui- 

866 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. ^5t 

tested itself, and the leaders planned a general uprising against the 
government. The promptitude of the authorities perhaps prevented a 
general insurrection, but there was a partial outbreak in February and 
March, chiefly in Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. There was an affray, 
if it deserves the name, at Tallaght, near Dublin, and a plot to seize 
Chester Castle was discovered and frustrated. The police, who behaved 
extremely well, were often attacked, but the Fenians abstained from 
plunder or from any acts which might estrange the rural population. 
The peasants, however, though for the most part nationalists, did not 
care to risk their lives in such wild enterprise, and the young men of the 
towns furnished the only real force. Weather of extraordinary severity, 
which will long be remembered as the "Fenian winter," completed their 
discomfiture, and they suffered fearful hardships. There was enough 
sympathy with the movement to procure the election of O'Donovan 
Rossa for Tipperary in 1867, when he was actually undergoing penal 
servitude. 

In the course of the year there appeared the interesting work entitled 
"The Early Years of H. R. H., the Prince Consort," compiled under the 
direction of Her Majesty by Lieut.-General the Hon. C. Grey. In this 
book the Queen pays an affectionate tribute to the vir-tue and character 
of her deceased husband, and the biography contains much material 
furnished directly by the Sovereign herself. "No homage which the 
Queen has paid to her husband's memory is more expressive than the 
humility and simple confidence with which she has in these pages 
trusted to the world particulars relating to herself. The candor with 
which she has published the events that led to their engagement, and 
their feelings and impressions, is not more striking than the assiduous 
self-denial which causes the interest always to center in the Prince. The 
Queen is kept out of sight whenever her presence is not required to 
illustrate his life." What the book gives is "not merely the privilege 
of overhearing the tale of love and grief, whispered by a mother to her 
children, but a great argument of history, a resolute attempt to make 
the nation understand the most illustrious character the royal family 
has possessed since the accession of the dynasty. To accomplish this 
high purpose, the Queen has not shrunk from the sacrifices which men 
seldom make, and monarchs never." 

On the 20th of May Her Majesty in person laid the first stone of the 
Hall of Arts and Science at Kensington Gore. This important edifice, 



g68 YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

which is now known as the Royal Albert Hall, was to be available for 
the following objects: Congresses, both national and international, for 
purposes of science and art; performances of music, distributions of 
prizes by public bodies, conversations for the promotion of science and 
art, agricultural, horticultural, and industrial exhibitions, and displays 
of pictures and sculpture. The ceremony at the laying of the foundation- 
stone was of an imposing character. The Queen was accompanied by 
the Princesses Louise and Beatrice, Prince Leopold and Prince Chris- 
tian; and she was received by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edin- 
burgh, the Lord Steward, and the Lord Chamberlain; Her Majesty wore 
deep mourning, a plain widow's cap and a dark crape mantle. The< 
Princesses wore dresses of green and white, and Prince Leopold a High- 
land dress. The Prince of Wales, bowing to his mother, handed her-a 
beautiful bouquet. The Queen, as she took it, kissed both her elder 
sons, and went forward into the building, being received by the whole 
company with hearty cheers, waving of handkerchiefs, and clapping of 
hands. The Queen advanced to the edge of the raised dais, and curtsied 
three times, first to the right, next to the left, and then to those in front 
of her. The Prince of Whales read an address to the Queen, who replied, 
contrary to custom with her, in a scarcely audible tone of voice. She 
referred to the struggle with which she had nerved herself to take part 
in the day's ceremony, but said she had been sustained by the thought 
that she was assisting to promote the accomplishment of the Prince's 
great designs. To his memory, the Queen continued, "the gratitude and 
affection of the country are now rearing a noble monument, which I 
trust may yet look down on such a center of institutions for the promo- 
tion of art and science as it was his fond hope to establish here." 

In June the Queen of Prussia arrived at Windsor Castle on a visit 
to the Queen; and in the following month the Sultan was also hos- 
pitably housed for a time at the Castle. His Majesty was made the 
center of a round of gayeties and celebrations at the Crystal Palace and 
elsewhere; but a grand naval review, at which he was present, off Spit- 
head, was spoilt by tempestuous weather. The Sultan left England 
much impressed by his visit. On the day before his departure from 
Buckingham Palace the Queen received at Osborne another illustrious 
visitor in the person of the Empress of the French. 

On the 20th of August the Queen left Windsor for Balmoral, paying 
a visit on the way to the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe at Floors 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

Castle. The procession from Kelso to the castle was quite a triumphal 
oDe, and at one point a beautiful scene was witnessed, when fifty young 
ladies and girls dressed in white, and wearing chaplets of ivy, strewed 
the road with exquisite bouquets of flowers. At night, beacon-fires. were 
lit on the hill-tops over a wide extent of country, there being no fewer 
than thirteen bonfires on the Duke of Roxburghe's estate, so that the 
fires may be said to have ranged from the Eildons to the Cheviots. The 
Queen visited Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford on the 22nd, and Jedburgh 
on the succeeding day. At Abbotsford she inspected the memorials of 
Sir Walter Scott, and acceded to a request to write her name in the 
Great Wizard's journal; though she afterwards wrote in her own Jour- 
nal that she felt it to be presumption on her part to do so. On the 
24th she proceeded to Balmoral. During her stay in the North she paid 
a visit to Glenfiddich, the shooting-lodge of the Duke" of Richmond. 
The luggage having failed to arrive on the same day as the travelers 
the Queen and her ladies were compelled to dine in their riding-skirts, 
and Her Majesty put on a black lace veil belonging to one of her attend- 
ants, which was arranged as a coiffure. On the 15th of October, the 
engagement day of the Queen and Prince Consort, a statue of the Prince 
was unveiled at Balmoral. 

In February, 1868, Her Majesty received an address of loyalty and 
affection from the Irish residents in London, a demonstration evoked 
by the Fenian conspiracy and the Clerkenwell outrage. The address 
was signed by 22,603 persons. 

An exciting debate took place in the House of Commons early in 
May, arising out of Mr. Disraeli's interview with the Queen after the 
defeat of the Government on Mr. Gladstone's Irish Church Resolutions, 
The Premier stated that he had recommended a dissolution of Parlia- 
ment to Her Majesty, but that he had afterwards placed his resignation 
at her disposal if she should be of opinion that it would conduce to a 
more satisfactory settlement of the Irish Church question. Mr. Glad- 
stone and other members strongly censured the use that had been made 
of the Queen's name, as well as the policy of the Premier, which con- 
demned the House of Commons by anticipation if any of its votes should 
be displeasing to the Government. 

Great indignation was caused in England by the news that the Duke 
of Edinburgh, while accepting the hospitality of the friends of the 
Sailors' Home at Clontarf, near Port Jackson, New South Wales, had 



ggO YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

been shot in the back by one O'Farrell. The wound, happily, was not 
fatal; the ball was extracted, and in eight days the Duke was suffi- 
ciently recovered to go on board his ship. 

On the 13th of May the Queen laid the foundation-stone of the new 
buildings for St. Thomas' Hospital, and in her reply to the address pre- 
sented to her she referred to the founding of the hospital by her royal 
predecessor Edward VI., and to the interest which her late husband 
always took in it. She also alluded to the fortunate preservation of her 
son, the Duke of Edinburgh, from the hand of an assassin. In Windsor 
Park, on the 20th of June, there was a review of 27,000 Volunteers by 
the Queen, the day being observed as a holiday by most of the public 
offices and large business establishments of London. 

Her Majesty left England on a visit to Switzerland on the 5th of 
August, traveling incognito as the Countess of Kent; en route she 
stayed for a day at the English Embassy, Paris, where she received 
the Empress Eugenie. She proceeded next day by rail to Lucerne. 
During their sojourn at this place, the Queen and her children — Prince 
Leopold and the Princesses Louise and Beatrice — occupied a beautifully 
situated residence called the Villa (Pension) Wallace. It stands on a 
hill overlooking the town, with the Righi on the left, and Mount Pilatus, 
distinguished by its serrated ridge, upon the right, and the lake and 
snowy St. Gothard range of Alps immediately in front. After enjoying 
for a month the delightful scenery of Switzerland, Her Majesty left 
Lucerne on the 9th of September, reached Windsor Castle on the 11th, 
and proceeded to Balmoral on the 14th. During her stay in her Scottish 
home she interested herself, as usual, in all the doings of the humble 
occupants of the cottages on the estate. One of the typical visits she 
was accustomed to pay to the cottagers has thus been described by the 
Rev. Dr. Guthrie, who had himself visited this particular cottar's home: 
"Within these walls the Queen had stood, with her kind hands smooth- 
ing the thorns of a dying man's pillow. There, left alone with him at 
her own request, she had sat by the bed of death — ^a Queen ministering 
to the comfort of a saint — preparing one of her humblest subjects to 
meet the Sovereign of us all. The scene, as our fancy pictured it, seemed 
like the breaking of the day when old prophecies shall be fulfilled: 
kings become nursing fathers, and queens nursing mothers to the 
Church." Whether at the Scotch communion service, or at a deathbed 




liOKD Mayor Gbeen of IjOndon 

(From the Most Recent Photograph.) 




Where IjIes Oliver Goldsmith— Temple Court, London 




Tower of London 

This ancient castle, used so many years as a prison for persons accused of crime against 
the King or government, is now used principally as an arsenal and barracks for soldiers. 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 363 

or the graveside, the Queen testified by her presence and sympathy to 
the oneness of humanity. 

Before the close of the year there appeared the Queen's volume, 
"Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands, from 1841 to 
1861," etc., etc. While the work laid no claim to the dignity of history 
or the gravity of literature, it had qualities of its own which ensured a 
ready acceptance amongst all readers. These records were not origi- 
nally intended for publication, but, as her husband had passed away, 
the Queen decided to give them to the world, in order that it might 
learn how great was the loss which she and England had sustained by 
the death of so good and able a man as the Prince Consort. Her Majesty 
sent a copy of this volume to Charles Dickens, as a gift from "one of 
the humblest of writers to one of the greatest." 

The Queen visited the City of London on the 6th of November, 1869, 
for the purpose of opening the new bridge over the Thames at Black- 
friars, and the new viaduct over the Fleet Valley from Holborn Hill to 
Newgate street. The citizens of London gave a warm welcome to their 
Sovereign after her prolonged absence from their midst. The journey 
from Paddington to Blackfriars Bridge — the Queen was accompanied 
by the Princesses Louise and Beatrice and Prince Leopold — was a con- 
tinued ovation. After the ceremony at the bridge Her Majesty pro- 
ceeded to the new Holborn Viaduct, where there was an immense 
assemblage of people, who greeted her with the liveliest acclamations. 
Having declared the Viaduct open, the Queen drove by way of Holborn 
to Paddington. The Lord Mayor gave a banquet at the Mansion House 
in the evening, when the Queen's reply to the address presented was 
read, expressive of the pleasure it had afforded her to visit the city, to 
open new works in which she recognized "the spirit of enterprise and 
improvement which has ev.er characterized the citizens of London." 

Another very interesting ceremony was witnessed in May, 1870, 
when the Queen, accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
formally opened the new buildings erected for the University of London 
in Burlington Gardens. The address presented made reference to the 
fact that it was in the year of Her Majesty's accession to the throne that 
the University began its labors "for the encouragement of a regular and 
liberal course of education among all denominations of the subjects of 
the Crown;" and it further offered dutiful thanks to the Queen for 
consenting to open a building granted by Parliament and fully satisfy- 



mk YMAR£ FULL OF HISTORY. 

ing all the requirements of the University. Lord Granville, as Chan- 
cellor of the University, read the address, to which Her Majesty replied, 
and then said in firm and clear tones, "I declare this building open." 
Many distinguished visitors were present, who were all cordially 
received, but the warmest greetings were extended to Mr. Gladstone, 
Mr. Disraeli, and the Indian religious reformer, Baboo Keshub Chunder 
Sen. 

The year 1870 was an eventful one upon the Continent. The war 
between France and Germany — in which the Queen's sons-in-law, the 
Crown Prince of Prussia and Prince Louis of Hesse were engaged — ^led 
to the re-making of the map of Europe so far as France and Germany 
were concerned; and as one result of the deadly struggle the Emperor 
and Empress of the French were driven into exile. Under changed and 
melancholy conditions Queen Victoria visited the Empress Eugenie at 
Chislehurst towards the close of the year. 

Her Majesty's stay at Balmoral in 1869 had been diversified by a 
most enjoyable visit of ten days to Invertrossachs, from which point the 
royal party explored some of the most beautiful lake scenery in Scot- 
land. The visit to Balmoral in the autumn of 1870 was marked by a 
happy incident of another description. On the 3rd of October the Prin- 
cess Louise became engaged to the Marquis of Lome, eldest son of the 
Duke of Argyll. The engagement took place during a walk from the 
Glassalt Shiel to the Dhu Loch. The Queen writes in her Journal : "We 
got home by seven. Louise, who returned some time after we did, told 
me that Lome had spoken of his devotion to her, and proposed to her, 
and that she had accepted him, knowing that I would approve. Though 
I was not unprepared for this result, I felt painfully the thought of 
losing her. But I naturally gave my consent, and could only pray that 
she might be happy." Dr. Macleod, who had long known Lord Lorne, 
told the Queen that he had a very high opinion of him, and that "he 
had fine, noble, elevated feelings." 

The year 1871 was a very anxious one for the Queen, as during its 
course another daughter left the parental roof on her marriage, while 
before it closed the life of the Prince of Wales was in imminent danger. 

Her Majesty opened Parliament in person on the 9th of February, 
^e royal ispeech, however, was read by the Lord Chancellor, and as he 
gs<)C«eded the Queen sat with eyes cast down and perfectly still, a slight 
HfirfMaoat of her fan being all that was at any time perceptible. The 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 365 

chief lic^me topics of interest were the approaching marriage of the 
Princess Louise and the agitation for army reform, which ultimately 
ended in the abolition of purchase. 

The marriage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lome was 
solemnized at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on the 21st of March. The 
ceremony was distinguished by much pomp. The Duke of Argyll 
attracted special attention when he appeared in "the garb of old Gaul," 
with kilt, philibeg, sporran and claymore complete. The bridegroom, 
who was supported by Earl Percy and Lord Ronald Gower, looked pale 
and nervous. All the members of the royal family were present. The 
bride was supported on the right by the Queen, and on the other side 
by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The 
bridesmaids were dressed in white satin decorated with red camellias, 
with long and drooping leaves; the bride wore a white satin robe, 
with a tunic of Honiton lace of ingenious and graceful design. In this 
tunic were bouquets composed of the rose, the shamrock and the thistle, 
linked together by a floral chain, from which hung bouquets of various 
flowers. The veil, which was of Honiton lace, was worked from a sketch 
made by the Princess Louise herself. When the Bishop of London put 
the usual question as to the giving away of the bride, the Queen replied 
by a gesture, and then the bishop joined the hands of the young people. 
At the close of the ceremony the Queen lovingly embraced her daughter. 
The bride and bridegroom left Windsor for Claremont, to spend the 
honeymoon. For their London residence, rooms were allotted to them 
in Kensington Palace. 

Her Majesty opened the Royal Albert Hall on the 29th of March, in 
the presence of the naembers of the royal family, the chief ofiicers of 
State, and a large and distinguished assembly, consisting of some 8,000 
persons. On the entrance of the Queen the whole audience rose to 
receive her, and remained standing while the National Anthem was 
performed. At its conclusion the Prince of Wales read an address to 
Her Majesty. The Queen handed to the Prince a written answer, and 
said in a clear voice: "I wish to express my great admiration of this 
beautiful hall, and my earnest wishes for its complete success." A 
prayer was offered by the Bishop of London, and then the Prince 
exclaimed: "The Queen declares this hall to be now opened." The 
announcement was followed by a burst of cheering, the National 
Anthem, and the discharge of the park gums. The opening was cele* 



266 YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

brated by a concert, under the direction of Sir Micliael Costa, who com- 
posed a cantata expressly for the occasion. The cost of the hall was 
estimated at £200,000, and — what is probably unique in the history of 
public buildings — this cost was not exceeded. 

Early in April the Queen, accompanied by Prince Leopold, i)aid a 
visit to the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie at Chislehurst. 
The Emperor was suffering greatly both in mind and body, but he was 
much touched by this manifestation of friendship. 

On the 21si of June Her Majesty opened the new St. Thomas' Hos- 
pital, and knighted the treasurer, Mr. Francis Hicks. 

The Queen did not return from her usual visit to Balmoral until a 
late period this autumn, and when she reached Windsor, on the 25th of 
November, she was met by the disturbing news that a feverish attack 
from which the Prince of Wales had for some time been suffering had 
assumed a grave aspect. A bulletin, issued by Drs. Jenner, Gull, Clay- 
ton and Lowe, stated that the Prince's illness was typhoid fever. Her 
Majesty proceeded to Sandringham on the 29th. The Princess Louise 
of Hesse and her children were staying at Sandringham, and the Queen 
at once despatched the Prince of Wales' three elder children and those 
of the Princess Louise to Windsor. Princess Alice remained at Sand- 
ringham to share the vigils of the Princess of Wales. The news of the 
Prince's illness created profound sorrow and solicitude throughout the 
United Kingdom. As the fever continued to run its course for some 
days without any alarming symptoms. Her Majesty returned to Wind- 
sor; but on the 8th of December a very serious relapse occurred. The 
life of His Royal Highness was in imminent danger, and the Queen and 
all the members of the royal family hurried to Sandringham. For some 
days the whole nation was plunged in gloom, and the excitement 
respecting the daily bulletins was intense. By the Queen's desire, 
special prayers were used on and after the 10th in all churches and 
chapels of the establishment. Prayers also went up from the Jewish 
synagogues and from Catholic and Dissenting churches. The national 
anxiety and suspense were continued until the night of Wednesday, the 
14th — the anniversary of the Prince Consort's death — when there was 
a slight amelioration of the worst symptoms, and the invalid obtained 
long-needed and refreshing sleep. From that day forward the Prince 
continued gradually to recover. The Queen returned to Windsor on the 
10th of December, and on the 26th she wrote the following letter to her 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 267 

people: "The Queen is very anxious to express her deep sense of the 
touching sympathy of the whole nation on the occasion of the alarming' 
illness of her dear son, the Prince of Wales. The universal feeling 
shown by her people during those painful, terrible days, and the sym- 
pathy evinced by them with herself and her beloved daughter, the 
Princess of Wales, as well as the general joy at the improvement of the 
Prince of Wales' state, have made a deep and lasting impression on her 
heart, which can never be effaced. It was indeed nothing new to her, 
for the Queen had met with the same sympathy when, just ten years 
ago, a similar illness removed from her side the mainstay of her life, the 
best, wisest and kindest of husbands. The Queen wishes to express at 
the same time, on the part of the Princess of Wales, her feelings of 
heartfelt gratitude, for she has been as deeply touched as the Queen by 
the great and universal manifestation of loyalty and sympathy. The 
Queen cannot conclude without expressing her hope that her faithful 
subjects will continue their prayers to God for the complete recovery 
of her dear son to health and strength." 

The 27th of February, 1872, was observed as a day of national 
thanksgiving for the Prince's recovery. A more joyous and successful 
celebration was never witnessed in London. The progress of Her Maj- 
esty and the Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Beatrice to St. 
Paul's was one continuous ovation. Amid the incessant cheering cries 
were heard of "God save the Queen!" and "God bless the Prince of 
Wales!" His Koyal Highness insisted upon continually removing his 
hat in response to the congratulations. At Temple Bar the City sword 
was presented and returned, after which the Lord Mayor remounted 
his horse and rode before the Queen to St. Paul's. The sight in the 
cathedral, where 13,000 persons were gathered, was very imposing. The 
Queen, who had the Prince of Wales on her right and the Princess of 
Wales on her left hand, took the Prince's arm, and walked up the nave 
to the pew specially prepared for the royal party. The service began 
with the Te Deum, and then there was a special form of thanksgivino-, 
which opened as follows: "O Father of mercies, O God of all comfort, 
we thank Thee that Thou hast heard the prayers of this nation in the 
day of our trial; we praise and magnify Thy glorious name for that 
Thou hast raised Thy servant Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, from 
the bed of sickness." The sermon was preached by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, his text being taken from the Epistle to the Romans: 



3G8 YEARS PULL Of HISTORY. 

''Members one of another." When Her Majesty left the Cathedral, the 
Lord Mayor and aldermen led the procession to the bonnds of the oit.y. 
After reaching Buckingham Palace the Queen and the Prince of Wales 
appeared for a short time on the central balcony. In the evening Lon- 
don was brilliantly illuminated. Her Majesty on the following day 
issued a letter to the people, stating how deeply touched and gratified 
she had been by the immense enthusiasm and affection exhibited 
towards her son and herself on their progress through the capital. 

Only two days afiter this happy event, the Queen was returning from 
a drive in the park, her carriage having just entered the courtyard, when 
a lad suddenly rushed forward to the left-hand side of the carriage, 
and held out a pistol in his right hand and a paper in his left. He next 
rushed to the other side and held the pistol and the paper at the full 
stretch of his arms towai"ds the Queen, who was then seated to his 
right, appearing quite calm and unmoved. The lad was speedily seized 
by Her Majesty's personal attendant, John Brown. The pistol proved 
to be unloaded. On the offender's person a knife was found, and also a 
petition, written on parchment, for the release of the Fenian prisonei's. 
He had managed to scale some iron railings about ten feet high, and 
thus gained access to the courtyard. He proved to be an Irish youth 
named Arthur O'Connor, seventeen years of age, and a clerk to an oil 
and color firm in the Borough. Great popular indignation was aroused 
in consequence of the outrage, and coming so close after the thanks- 
giving service, it accentuated the loyalty of the people towards the 
Queen. O'Connor was subsequently brought to trial, and sentenced to 
one year's imprisonment with hard labor, and a whipping with a birch 
rod. The Queen had for some time past contemplated instituting a 
medal as a reward for long or faithful service among her domestic 
servants, and she now inaugurated the institution by conferring on 
John Brown, her faithful attendant, a medal in gold, with an annuity 
of £25, as a mark of her appreciation of his presence of mind and of his 
devotion on the occasion of the attack made upon Her Majesty. 

While the Queen was at Balmoral in the ensuing June she received 
tidings of the death of her valued friend and spiritual adviser, Dr. Nor- 
man Macleod. The Queen and all her household were much affected by 
the loss. The deceased had on many occasions cheered and comforted 
the Sovereign in times of trouble. "No one ever raised and strengthened 
one's faith more than Dr. Macleod," wrote Her Majesty. "His own faith 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. »«f 

was so strong, liis heart so large, that alJ, high and 1<9W, weak smd 
strong, the erring and the good, could alilie find symijathy, help and 
consolation from him. 11 ow I loved to talk to him, to ask his advice, 
to speak to him of my sorrows, my anxieties! But, alas! how impossible 
I feel it to be to give any adequate idea of the character of this good 
and distinguished man." 

On the 1st of July, the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edin- 
burgh, the Princesses Louise and Beatrice, and Prince Leopold, visited 
the national memorial erected in Hyde Park to the memory of the Prince 
Consort. This magnificent and costly monument was then complete, 
save for the statue of the Prince, which was to be executed by Mr. Foley, 
and to foi-m the central and principal figure. The structure, which i^t 
very elaborate in all its parts, reaches to a height of 180 feet, and termi- 
nates in a graceful cross. 

Her Majesty visited Dunrobin in September, and laid the memorial 
stone of a monument to the memory of her dear friend the Duchess of 
Sutherland in the grounds of Dunrobin Castle. The stone bore a bras>4 
plate, with a suitable inscription, closing thus: "This foundation-stone 
was laid by Queen Victoria of England, in testimony of her love and 
friendship, 9th of September, 1872." 

Before the month closed Her Majesty received intelligence of the 
death of her beloved sister, the Dowager Princess of Hohenlohe Langen- 
burg, who expired at Baden-Baden. There was ever a warm attachment 
between the two illustrious ladies,and the Princess was deeply mourned, 
not only by the Queen, but by a wide circle. The Duke of Edinburgh and 
I'rince Arthur went over to Germany to the funeral, at which also weti* 
present the Emperor of Germany and the Prince and Princess Louise 
of Hesse. 

A strange and checkered career came to a close in January, 1873, 
when the Emperor Napoleon died after much physical suffering at Chis^ 
lehurst. Messages of sympathy with the Empress Eugenie and the 
Prince Imperial were sent by the Queen and various Eurojjean Sover- 
eigns. 

On the 2nd of April the Queen paid a visit to Victoria Park, and he» 
appearance in the East End was welcomed with great enthusiasm bj 
large crowds of her poorer subjects, who lined both sides of the thor- 
oughfares. It seemed as though every court and alley of this densely 
populated portion of the metropolis had poured forth all it* occupant* 



370 YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

of both sexes, who vied with each other in their demonstrations of loy- 
alty. 

A sad and fatal accident befell one of the Queen's grandsons, Prince 
Frederick William of Hesse, at Darmstadt, on the 28th of May. Shortly 
before eight o'clock in the morning, the nurses had as usual brought the 
royal children into Princess Alice's bedroom. "On this occasion there 
were but three — viz.. Prince Ernest, Prince Frederick William, and the 
baby, Princess Victoria. Out of the bedroom opened a bathroom, into 
which Prince Ernest ran. The Princess, knowing the window to be open, 
as was also the one in her bedroom, hastily got up and followed the 
child, leaving Prince Frederick William and the baby on the bed. Dur- 
ing her short absence, Prince Frederick William let a toy with which he 
was playing fall out of the window, and while trying to recover it he 
fell a height of twenty feet to the ground. The Princess, hearing a noise, 
rushed back, but only in time to see the unhappy child in the air. Her 
shrieks soon brought assistance, but all efforts were useless, and the 
poor little fellow died about eleven o'clock. He had been weakly from; 
his birth, but he was of a gay and lively disposition, and his death caused 
profound sorrow to his parents, with whom much sympathy was felt." 
As an illustration of the rigidity of Court etiquette it may be mentioned 
that, while Court mourning was ordered in England for the little Prince, 
there was none ordered in Darmstadt, as the deceased child was not 
twelve years old. 

During their stay in Scotland, in September, the Queen and Prin- 
cess Beatrice spent a week at Inverlochy, near Ben Nevis, Lord Abinger 
having placed his seat there at Her Majesty's disposal. The Queen after- 
wards went through the Caledonian Canal, greatly enjoying its beautiful 
scenery. From Inverness the royal travelers went on to Balmoral. 

On the 23rd of January, 1874, the Duke of Edinburgh was married 
to the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, the ceremony taking place in the 
Winter Palace at St. Petersburg. In the succeeding March the royal 
couple made a public entry into London. A heavy snowstorm somewhat 
marred the proceedings, but the Queen, with the Duchess and the Duke 
of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice, drove through the streets of the 
metropolis in an open carriage. On arriving at Buckingham Palace the 
newly wedded couple met with an ovation from a large crowd of persons 
jvho had assembled in front of the Palace, 

In April Her Majesty visited Gosport, and inspected the sailors and 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 271 

marines of tke Royal Navy who had gallantly borne their part, with 
three regiments of the army, in the successful campaign against the 
Ashantees. At a later period she personally conferred the medals 
awarded for conspicuous gallantry during the Ashantee war upon nine 
seamen and marines. In connection with this war Sir Garnet Wolse- 
ley received the. Order of St. Michael and St. George, and Lord Gifford 
that of the Victoria Cross. 

On the occasion of the jubilee meeting of the Royal Society for the 
Prevention of Ci^uelty to Animals, held on the 22nd of June, the Queen, 
through Sir Thomas Biddulph, addressed a letter to the President, Lord 
Harrowby. Her Majesty desired to give expression to her warm interest 
in "the success of the efforts which are being made at home and abroad 
for the purpose of diminishing the cruelties practiced on dumb animals. 
The Queen hears and reads with horror of the sufferings which the brute 
creation often undergo from the thoughtlessness of the ignorant, and 
she fears also sometimes from experiments in the pursuit of science. 
For the removal of the former the Queen trusts much to the progress 
of education, and in regard to the pursuit of science she hopes that the 
entire advantage of those anaesthetic discoveries from which man has 
derived so much benefit himself in the alleviation of suffering may be 
fully extended to the lower animals." 

The interesting festival of Hallowe'en was celebrated on a great 
scale at Balmoral on the 4th of November. As soon as darkness set in, 
Her Majesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove 
out in an open phaeton. A procession, consisting of the tenants and 
sen^ants on the estates, followed, all carrying huge lighted torches. 
They walked through the grounds and round the Castle, and the scene 
was very weird and striking. There was an immense bonfire in front of 
the Castle, and when the flames were at the highest a figure dressed as 
a hobgoblin appeared on the scene, drawing a car surrounded by a num- 
ber of fairies carrying long spears, the car containing the effigy of a 
witch. A circle having been formed by the torch-bearers, the presiding* 
elf tossed the figure of the witch into the fire, where it was speedily 
consumed. Reels were then begun, which were danced with great vigor 
to the stirring bagpipe strains of Willie Ross, the Queen's piper. The 
Queen and Princess Beatrice, who remained as spectators of the show, 
were highly entertained. 

A pleasing international incident occurred on the 3rd of December, 



273 YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 

when Her Majesty received at Windsor an address of thanks from the 
French nation for the services rendered by the English people to the sick 
and wounded in the w^ar of 1870-71. The address was contained in four 
large volumes, which were beautiful as works of art; and by command 
of the Queen these volumes were placed in the British Museum, in order 
that the public might have an opportunity of inspecting them. 

There appeared this year the first volume of Sir Theodore Martin's 
Life of the Prince Consort — a work valuable for giving a complete pict- 
ure of the man; and amongst other tributes to the Prince was the erec- 
tion of the statue to his memory at the termination of the Holborn 
Viaduct. This statue was presented to the Corporation by a wealthy 
gentleman of the city. 

Many distinguished men who had been personally honored by the 
Queen passed away in this and the following year. The mournful death- 
list included Bishop Wilberforce, Sir E. Landseer, Charles Kingsley, 
W. C. Macready, and Her Majesty's literary adviser and clerk of the 
Council, Sir Arthur Helps. 

It had been announced that the Queen would open Parliament in 
person in February, 1875, but the alarming illness of her youngest son, 
Prince Leopold, prevented her from carrying out her design. The Prince 
had been seized with typhoid fever during the Christmas vacation at 
Osborne (though the disease had been contracted at Oxford University), 
and for a long time a fatal termination was feared to his illness. Hap- 
pily, however, he eventually recovered. As the Princess Alice said, he 
had already been given back three times to his family from the brink of 
the grave. 

Her Majesty w^as an involuntary witness of a lamentable accident 
which occurred as she was crossing over from Osborne to Gosport in the 
royal yacht on the 18th of August. A yacht called the Mistletoe, belong- 
ing to Mr. Hey wood, of Manchester, ran across the bows of the Alberta, 
and a collision took place. The Mistletoe turned over and sank, and the 
sister-in-law of the owner was drowned. The master, who had been 
struck by a spar, also died afterwards, but the rest of the crew were 
saved. The Queen was greatly distressed by the occurrence, and per- 
sonally aided in restoring one of the sufferers to consciousness. Col- 
onel Ponsonby some time afterwards addressed a letter to the Com- 
modore of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, deprecating the constant 
practice of private yachts in approaching the royal yacht from motives 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 3t3 

of loyalty or curiosity. As the Solent is generally crowded with vessels 
in summer, this was a very dangerous custom, which might lead to 
lamentable results, and the Queen hoped it would be discontinued. This 
letter gave rise to much controversy; and as it appeared immediately 
after the verdict of the Gosport jury, which attributed the disaster 
partly to error on the part of the officers of the royal yacht, it was inter- 
preted as an expression of the Queen's opinion that the master of the 
Mistletoe was to blame. Her Majesty hastened to remove this impres- 
sion, and an explanation was published from Colonel Ponsonby to the 
effect that his letter was written three weeks before the verdict had 
been pronounced, and was not in any way intended to anticipate that 
verdict by laying the blame on either party. 

The Queen paid a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Argyll at Inver- 
aray in September, and from thence proceeded to Balmoral. At Cpathie, 
on the 21st of October, Her Majesty and Princess Beatrice attended the 
funeral of Mr. John Brown, father of the Queen's attendant. The 
weather was wet and bleak, but the Queen and her youngest daughter 
followed on foot from the house to the hearse, which from the nature of 
the roads, could not be got near the door. After the hearse had moved 
off, Her Majesty returned to the house, and stayed some time, endeavor- 
ing to comfort the widow. Most of the members of the Court attended 
the old man's funeral. 

In October the Prince of Wales left England for his lengthened tour 
through Her Majesty's Indian dominions. He met with a grand recep- 
tion in Bombay, and his birthday was kept in India. The Prince visited 
the chief wonders of India, including the caves of Elephanta. There wasi 
an elephant hunt in Ceylon, and an illumination of the surf. Colombo, 
Bombay, Baroda, Calcutta, and Madras were all visited. The tour was 
in ever}^ respect a perfect success, and created a most favorable impres- 
sion amongst the Queen's Indian subjects. In the following year the 
Royal Titles Bill was passed, and Her Majesty was proclaimed Empress 
of India. 

The Queen made many public appearances in 1876. Early in Febru- 
ary she opened Parliament in person, and on the 25th of the same month 
attended a State concert given at the Albert Hall, when she was accom- 
panied by the Princess of Wales, Princess Beatrice, and Prince Leopold, 
and received by the Duke of Edinburgh. Another of Her Majesty's per- 
sonal friends, Lady Augusta Stanley, passed away on the 1st of March, 



2.^4 YEARS FULL OR HISTORY^. 

aud the Queen erected a memorial cross to her memory in the grounds 
at Frogmore. On the 7th of March Her Majesty opened a new wing o£ 
the London Hospital, which had been built by the Grocers' Company at 
a cost of £20,000. Altogether the sum of £90,000 was contributed by 
public subscription for the enlargement of the hospital. The statue of 
the Prince Consort in the Albert Memorial was unveiled on the 9th, 
without any ceremony. This splendid recognition of a Queen's affection 
and a nation's gratitude was now complete. Towards the close of March 
the Queen proceeded to Germany for a visit of some weeks— durin}^ 
which she visited her sister's grave— traveling under the name of the 
Countess of Kent. On the homeward journey, on the 20th of April, Herj 
Majesty rested at Paris, and had an interview with Marshal MacMahon, 
the French President. On the 2nd of May she reviewed the troops at 
Aldershot; the march past took place in the midst of a violent hail- 
storm. On the 13th the Queen opened a loan collection of scientific 
instruments at South Kensington Museum; and on the 27th her birth- 
day was kept in London with more than customary public rejoicings in 
honor of the Prince of Wales' return from India. 

The Albert Memorial at Edinburgh was unveiled by the Queen with 
great ceremony on the 17th of August. The memorial, which is in Char- 
lotte Square, consists of a colossal equestrian statue of the Prince Con- 
sort, in field-marshal's uniform and bare-headed, standing on a pedestal, 
at the four corners of which are groups of figures looking up to the 
central figure. The sculptor of the whole composition was Mr. John 
Steell, upon whom and Professor Oakley, the composer of the chorale 
which was sung on the occasion. Her Majesty conferred the honor of 
knighthood. The Queen took up her quarters at Holyrood Palace for 
two days, and. in her diary she records the coincidence that the last pub- 
lic appearances of both her husband and her mother were made in 
Edinburgh. The ceremony of unveiling the statue passed off very suc- 
cessfully. The Queen was well seen by her subjects, for she insisted 
upon standing throughout the whole ceremony, although chairs of State 
had been prepared for her and Princess Beatrice and Prince Leopold. 
As the memorial was uncovered the band played the "Coburg March," 
which much touched Her Majesty. She walked round the statue, and 
expressed her complete satisfaction with the work. 

On the 26th of September the Queen presented new colors to the 79th 
Eegiment, "Royal Scots," at Ballater. The rain came down in torrents. 



YEARS FULL OF HISTORY. 375 

After the piling of the drums, Her Majesty handed the new colors to the 
two sub-lieutenants, who were kneeling, and addressed them in these 
words: "In entrusting these colors to your charge, it gives me much 
pleasure to remind you that I have been associated with your regiment 
from my earliest infancy, as my dear father was your colonel. He was 
proud of his profession, and I was always told to consider myself a sol- 
dier's child. I rejoice in having a son who has devoted his life to the 
army, and who, I am confident, will ever prove worthy of the name of a 
British soldier. I now present these colors to you, convinced that you 
will always uphold the glory and reputation of my first Regilnent of 
Foot — the Royal Scots." 




CHAPTER XI. 

QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

(jueen Yictoria Becomes the Empress of India— Impressive Ceremonies at Delhi— Tlie Queen's 
Interest in Her Indian Empire— The Marquis of Lome Appointed Governor General of 
Canada— Death of President Oarfleld— Another Attempt on the Life of the Queen- 
Death of the Duke of Albany— Marriage of the Princess Beatrice— The Colonial and 
Indian Exhibition— The Queen Visits Liverpool. 

<AR away in sunny India was enacted, on January 1, 1877, a scene 
the most brilliant and unique of any connected with the glorious 
reign of Victoria. At the Imperial camp, outside the walls of 
Delhi, where the mutiny had raged the fiercest, Her Majesty was 
proclaimed Empress of India. On a throne of oriental splendor, above 
which was a portrait of the Empress, sat Lord Lytton, her Viceroy, the 
Governors, Lieutenants, State oflacials and the Maharajahs, Rajahs, 
Nabobs and Princes, with their glittering retinues grouped around 
him. Behind rose the vast amphitheatre, filled with foreign ambassa- 
dors and notables; around was the concourse of spectators and a bril- 
liant array of fifteen thousand troops, while to complete the gorgeous 
scene the whole assemblage was surrounded by an unbroken chain of 
elephants decked with gay trappings. After the proclamation had been 
made with all the pomp of heraldry, the Viceroy presented to each of 
the feudatory Princes the gift of the Empress, a magnificent standard 
designed by Her Majesty. The standards were ornamented with the 
sacred water lily of India, spreading palms of the East, and the rose of 
England, it being the desire of the Einpress to indicate that as the rose 
and lily intertwined beneath the spreading palm, so was the welfare of 
India to become one with that of her older dominions; and the motto, 
"Heaven's light our guide," illustrated the spirit in which she desired to 
govern the enormous empire of which she ever fondly spoke as "a bright 
jewel in her crown." Most noticeable in the brilliant gathering was the 
Begum of Bhopal, a lady Knight of the Most Noble Order of Queen Vic- 
toria. There was nothing to be seen of the lady save a bundle of float- 
ing azure silk, which indicated that she was inside, and upon the place 
where the left shoulder was supposed to be was emblazoned the shield of 

376 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESiS. 277 

the Star of India. Much cheap wit was expended after Her Majesty's 
accession on the rise of the "royal sex," and it was said that the young 
Queen intended to establish an Order of Female Knighthood. The 
prophecy of the scoffer seemed to have been more than fulfilled in the 
figure of this Hindoo lady wearing the Order of the Star of India. 
Though she was not valiant enough to show her face, yet her presence 
was a good omen for that emancipation of the women of her country 
from the seclusion of the Zenana which fittingly distinguished the reign 
of the British Empress. On the day of the Proclamation at Delhi, the 
Queen conferred the Grand Cross of India upon the Duke of Connaught, 
and when in 1879 she became a great-grandmother, by the birth of a 
daughter to the Princess of Saxe-Meiningen (Princess Charlotte of 
Prussia), she celebrated her ancient dignity by investing twelve noble 
ladies of her Court with the Imperial Order of the Crown of India. 

The keenest interest was always shown by the Queen in the condi- 
tion of Hindoo women. It was with heartfelt thankfulness that she saw 
the barbarous suttee abolished, and it was her influence which inspired 
the rapid spread of Zenana w^ork. In July, 1881, she received at Wind- 
sor Miss Beilby, a medical missionary from India; and after listening to 
her account of the sufferings of Hindoo women, in time of illness, for 
need of doctors, the Queen turned to her ladies and said, "We had no 
idea that things were as bad as this." Miss Beilby then took from a; 
locket which she wore round her neck a folded piece of paper containing 
a message to Her Majesty from the Maharanee of Poonah. "The women 
of India suffer when they are sick," was the burden of the dark-eyed 
Queen's appeal. The Empress returned her a message of sympathy and 
help, and to the women of England the Queen said, "We desire it to be 
generally known that we sympathize with every effort made to relieve 
the suffering state of the women of India"; and when Lord Dufferin 
went out as Governor-General, she commissioned Lady Dufferin to estab- 
lish a permanent fund for providing qualified women doctors for work in 
India. Her Majesty continued to take the greatest interest in this work, 
and w^as in constant communication with the Viceroy's wife regarding 
its further organization and extension, up to the time of her death. 

No opportunity was lost by Her Majesty to show her interest in her 
Indian Empire, and doubtless had the Prince Consort been spared she 
would have made a progress through the country. This was done in her 
stead by the Prince of Wales in 1875-6, and it was while he was making 



278 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

the tour that Lord Beaconsfleld introduced the Eoyal Titles Bill iuto 
Parliament, conferring upon the Queen the title of Empress of India, a 
distinction regarded by John Bull as superfluous to a Crown the most 
distinguished in the world; but Her Majesty personally desired it, not, 
as gossip affirmed, because of the advent at Court of her second son's 
Imperial bride, but as a means of binding her Indian subjects to her in 
a closer manner. It is said that she showed more interest in the Indian 
Court of the Colonial Exhibition, 1886, than in any other, and at each of 
her visits chatted freely with the native workmen. When the Indian 
delegates to the Exhibition first saw their Empress, a homely-looking 
lady in a black silk gown, they expressed disappointment, having 
expected to see her decked out in the pomp and circumstance of a 
mighty potentate. "But, after all," said they, "what a great power the 
Queen must wield when she can command such an array of illustrious 
personages to attend upon her, while she appears as the most simple of 
all the Court." In later years Her Majesty had Indian servants in native 
dress as personal attendants; she was also an assiduous student of 
Hindustani, being able to speak and write in that language; and hei^ 
favorite State jewel was the priceless Koh-i-noor, about which hangs a 
tale. When it came into the possession of the East India Company, in 
1850, it was handed at a Board meeting to John Lawrence (afterwards 
Lord Lawrence, the Viceroy) for safe keeping. The precious diamond 
was laid amongst folds of linen in a small box, and Lord Lawrence slipped 
it into his waistcoat pocket and forgot all about it until some days later 
it was suggested that he should forward it to the Queen. One can imag- 
ine his consternation w^hen he rushed to his house to see if it was to be 
found. "Have you seen a small box in one of my waistcoat pockets?" 
he asked breathlessly of his servant. "Yes, sahib," was the reply. "I 
found it and put it in one of your boxes." "Bring it here and open it, 
and see what it contains," said his master. "There is nothing in it, 
sahib, but a bit of glass," the man replied in wonderment. The "bit of 
glass" was in due course despatched to the Queen, whose crown it was to 
adorn; but she preferred to wear it on occasions as a magnificent brooch 
in the centre of her bodice. The cutting of the diamond was personally 
superintended by the Prince Consort. 

Her Majesty again opened Parliament in person on the 8th of Febru- 
ary, 1877. The year was comparatively uneventful at home, and in Sep- 
tember the Queen visited Loch Maree, staying at the Loch Maree Hotel 




The Kight Honorable Wilmam Ewakt Gladstone 

The Great Liberal Statesman of the Victorian Age 




"WELLiINGTON 

The Great General of the Early Victorian Age. 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 281 

for a week, and greatly enjoying the magnificent scenery which Ross- 
shire affords. She made several sketching excursions, and has left a 
pleasant record of her whole sojourn in her Journal. 

In November the Queen parted for a long term with her daughter 
Louise, who in that month went with her husband, the Marquis of Lome, 
to Canada, to which Dominion he had been appointed Governor-General. 
They had a most enthusiastic reception from the Canadian people, and 
remained there until 1883, when the term of ofiflce of the Marquis 
expired. 

A severe loss came to the royal family in December by the death of 
the lamented Princess Alice. Some time before diphtheria had broken 
out in the Darmstadt household, and every member of it was attacked 
in succession. Princess Marie, who was only four years old, died on the 
16th of November. The Princess caught the infection as the result of 
her devoted attention to others, and from having on one occasion rested 
her head, from sheer sorrow, on the Duke's pillow, without having taken 
the necessary precautions. She made all her preparations in the event 
of death. Once she was heard to murmur in her sleep, "Four weeks — 
Marie — my father." On the morning of her death, havingjust taken 
some refreshment, she said, "Now I will again sleep quietly for a longer 
time." These were her last words, as she slept the sleep which knows 
no earthly waking, passing away on the 14th of December, the seven- 
teenth anniversary of her father's death. Few Princesses have been 
more warmly beloved than the Princess Alice. The remains of the Prin- 
cess were interred in the mausoleum at Rosenhohe, on May 18, the 
Prince of Wales, Prince Leopold, and Prince Christian being among the 
mourners. A beautiful recumbent figure in white marble of the Prin- 
cess, in which she is represented as clasping her infant daughter to her 
breast, has been placed near the tomb, as a token of the loving remem- 
brance of her brothers and sisters. The Queen issued a letter to her 
subjects expressing her heartfelt thanks for the universal and most 
touching sympathy called forth by the death of her beloved daughter. 

During the month of January, 1879, Edward Byrne Madden was tried 
at the Central Criminal Court for sending threatening letters to the; 
Queen. Being found of unsound mind, he was ordered to be detained 
during Her Majesty's pleasure. Madden was of Irish parents, but was 
born at Bruges. He developed a mania for threatening Sovereigns, and 
before the charge against him in England, had already been confined in 



2'82r QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

Austrian, Belgian, French, and American asylums for threatening the 
lives of the Emperor Francis Joseph, King Leopold, Napoleon III., and. 
President Johnson. 

In March the Duke of Connaught was married to the Princess Louise 
of Prussia, at St. George's, Windsor. Some days later the Queen left 
England with the Princess Beatrice for Lago Maggiore, where they 
remained for four weeks. News reached them of the death of Prince 
Waldemar, one of the sons of the Crown Prince and Princess of Ger- 
many, from fever. Her Majesty returned to England on the 24th of 
April, traveling by way of Milan, Turin, Paris, and Cherbourg. 

On the 12th of May the Queen's first great-grandchild, the daughter 
of the Princess of Saxe-Meiningen, was born. A fortnight later Her 
Majesty proceeded to Balmoral, and, accompanied by the Princess 
Beatrice, she inspected the cross of Aberdeen granite which an affec- 
tionate mother had reared to a beloved daughter. The cross bears this 
inscription: "To the dear memory of Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, 
Princess of Great Britain and Ireland. Born April 25, 1843. Died 
December 14, 1878. This is erected by her sorrowing mother. Queen 
Victoria. 'Her name shall live, though now she is no more.' " 

Her Majesty was at Balmoral when she received the mournful news 
of the death of the French Prince Imperial, who was slain in the Zulu 
war. The Queen could not at first credit the news, but it was confirmed 
by a telegram from Lady Frere, despatched from the Government 
House, Cape Town. Her Majesty feared for the effect of the terrible 
news upon the Empress Eugenie, and thus wrote in her Journal: "To 
think of that dear young man, the apple of his mother's eye, born and 
nurtured in the purple, dying thus, is too fearful, too awful; and inex- 
plicable and dreadful that the others should not have turned round and 
fought for him. It is too horrible." 

The Queen opened Parliament in person on the 5th of February, 
1880, and on the ensuing 25th of March left England for Baden-Baden 
and Darmstadt. She was present at the confirmation of her grandchil- 
dren the Princesses Victoria and Elizabeth, daughters of the Duke and 
the late Duchess of Hesse; and she also visited the grave of their mother 
at Rosenhohe. Her Majesty in the following September welcomed the 
Duke of Connaught and his bride at Balmoral, where a cairn had been 
erected in their honor. 

The last month of this year and the early months of 1881 were sig- 



'QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 283 

nalized by three great losses in English literature and politics. George 
Eliot died in December, 1880, Carlyle in February, 1881, and the Earl of 
Beaconsfield in the following ApriL The Conservative leader was bur- 
ied at Hughenden, and the Queen and Princess Beatrice visited the 
funeral vault while it was still open, and placed flowers upon the coffin. 
At a later period a monument was erected in Hughenden Church to 
Lord Beaconsfield "by his grateful and affectionate Sovereign and friend, 
Victoria E. I. Kings love him that speaketh right (Prov. xvi. 13)." 

Prince Leopold was created Duke of Albany in June, 1881, and took 
his seat in the House of Lords. 

On the 19th of September, President Garfield died after a long and 
painful struggle, the victim of an assassin. When it was known that he 
had succumbed to his wounds, the utmost sympathy was manifested 
throughout Europe, and the English Court went into mourning, a cus- 
tom hitherto only observed in regard to the death of crowned heads. 
The President was buried on the 24th. One of the largest and most 
exquisite of the floral decorations on the bier bore a card with the 
inscription: "Queen Victoria to the memory of the late President Gar- 
field: an expression of her sorrow and her sympathy with Mrs. Garfield 
and the American nation." 

Not many months afterwards another attempt was made on the 
Queen's own life. On the 2nd of March, 1882, Her Majesty, accompanied 
by Princess Beatrice, was entering her carriage at Windsor Station, on 
returning from London, when she was fired at by a man named Roger 
Maclean, who was at once arrested. Fortunately, neither the Queen nor 
any one else was injured. It was discovered that the antecedents of 
Maclean were perfectly respectable, but that he had fallen into want. 
He was committed for trial on a charge of high treason, but being found 
not guilty on the plea of insanity, was sentenced to be confined during 
Her Majesty's pleasure. In both Houses of Parliament addresses were 
unanimously adopted, expressing horror and indignation at the attempt 
made on the Queen's life, and congratulations on her escape. 

Her Majesty left England on the 14th of March, accompanied by 
Princess Beatrice, on a visit to Mentone, traveling by way of Ports- 
mouth, Cherbourg, and Paris. The royal travelers returned to Windsor 
on the 14th of April, having had a very rough passage from Cherbourg 
to Portsmouth. 

A fortnight later the marriage of the Duke of Albany to Princess 



'S84 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES 'AN EMPRESS. 

Helen of Waldeck was celebrated in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, in 
the presence of the Queen and the royal family. The young couple had 
Claremont assigned to them as their residence, and the usual Parlia- 
mentary provision was made. 

An interesting ceremony took place at Epping on the 6th of May. 
The Queen and Princess Beatrice went in State from Windsor to the 
forest, where they were received by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, the 
Duke of Oonnaught as Ranger of the Forest, etc. An address was pre- 
sented by the Corporation of London, after which Her Majesty declared 
the forest dedicated to the use and enjoyment of the public for all time. 
Ul3on her return to Windsor the Queen received the melancholy news of 
the assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke in Phoenix 
Park, Dublin. Towards the end of May, Albert Young, a railway clerk at 
Doncaster, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to ten years' penal servitude 
for sending a letter to Sir Henry Ponsonby threatening to murder the 
Queen. 

On the 17th of August Her Majesty presented new colors to the 2nd 
battalion Berkshire Regiment (the 66th) at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. 
This gallant regiment lost its old colors in the engagement with Ayoub 
Khan, at Maiwand, on July 14, 1880, when 370 of its officers and men 
were killed, including its commanding officer, Colonel Galbraith. Two 
of the companies wore the Afghan cross, struck in memory of the march 
from Cabul to Candahar, 

When the Egyptian war broke out the Duke of Connaught was 
amongst the officers who accompanied Sir Garnet Wolseley into Egypt. 
The progress of the campaign was watched with much solicitude by the 
Queen and the Duchess of Connaught, who were at Balmoral during the 
thick of the engagements. News at last arrived of the great British 
victory at Tel-el-Kebir. "How anxious we felt, I need not say," wrote 
the Queen in her Journal, "but we tried not to give way. I prayed earn- 
estly for my darling child, and longed for to-morrow to arrive. Read 
Korner's beautiful Gebet vor der Schlacht, Vater, ich rufe Dich (Trayer 
before the Battle: Father, I call on Thee'). My beloved husband used 
to sing it often." A telegram arrived at Balmoral: "A great victory; 
Duke safe and well;" and this was succeeded by a fuller one containing 
the words, "The Duke of Connaught is well and behaved admirably, 
leading his brigade to the attack." This message diffused great joy and 
thankfulness over the royal circle. The Duke and Duchess of Albany 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES 'AN EMPRESS. 385 

arrived at Balmoral in the midst of the rejoicings, and were warmly wel- 
comed after their bridal tour. The healths of the bride and bridegroom 
having been drunk with Highland honors, the Queen requested her son 
to propose a toast "to the victorious army in Egypt," coupled with the 
name of the Duke of Connaught. The toast was received with pride 
and enthusiasm. 

On the 18th of November the Queen reviewed in St. James' Park 
about 8,000 troops of all arms who had recently returned from service in 
Egypt. After parading before Her Majesty, the troops marched by way 
of Birdcage Walk, Grosvenor Place, Piccadilly, and Pall Mall, where 
they were enthusiastically received by large crowds. Three days later 
the Queen distributed Egyptian war medals to the generals and repre- 
sentatives of various branches of the service at Windsor; and she also 
delivered a brief address to those present. On the 24th she held an 
investiture of orders conferred for distinguished service in Egypt. 

The new Law Courts in the Strand, which had been erected after the 
designs of Mr. G. E. Street, R. A., were formally opened by the Queen on 
the 4th of December. There was an imposing ceremonial. Her Majesty 
being received in the hall by the judges and representatives of the Bar. 
The Prime Minister and a great number of other distinguished persons 
were present. Lord Chancellor Selborne was advanced to the rank of 
an Earl on this occasion, and the honor of knighthood was conferred 
upon the treasurers of the various Inns of Court. 

The year 1883 was an uneventful one in the life of the Queen as 
regards public appearances; but in March her subjects learned with 
regret that she had sustained a somewhat severe accident. It appears 
that while Her Majesty was at Windsor Castle she slipped upon some 
stairs, and, falling, sprained her knee. The accident was at first 
regarded as of slight consequence, but it became the source of much 
pain and inconvenience. A month later the Court Circular announced 
that the effects of the sprain were still so severe as to prevent her walk- 
ing, or even standing for more than a few seconds. Eventually these ill 
effects passed away, but not until the expiration of a year from the time 
of the accident. 

A gTeat trial befell Her Majesty in 1884 by the untoward death of 
her youngest son, the Duke of Albany. From his childhood upward the 
Prince had been of delicate health. Alike from inclination and neces- 
sity, he had always been given to studious pursuits. As he reached 



286 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES "AN EMPRESS. 

manhood he was not only proficient in music and painting, but devel- 
oped strong literary tastes. He had an excellent and refined judgment, 
and had gathered copious stores of book learning. He lived a com- 
paratively retired life, suffering much from a constitutional weakness in 
the joints, and from a dangerous tendency to hemorrhage, which ren- 
dered the extremest care necessary. On several occasions his life was 
in danger from sudden and severe fits of indisposition. His intellectual 
gifts, combined with his ill-health, rendered him an object of pride as 
well as of solicitude to the other members of the royal family. Towards 
the close of his existence he seemed, by the interest he took in literature 
and science, and the graceful public speeches which he delivered, about 
to take the place once held by his honored father. He had a happy mar- 
riage, and in 1883 a daughter was born to him, to whom was given the 
name of his beloved and revered sister, Alice. 

The career of this much-esteemed Prince, however, was cut prema- 
turely short. In March, 1884, he went to Cannes to avoid the inclement 
east winds, leaving the Duchess behind him at Claremont. His stay in 
the south of France proved of considerable service in restoring his 
health; but on the 27th of jMarch, as he was ascending a stair at the 
Cercle Nautique, he slipped and fell, injuring the knee which had been 
hurt on several occasions before. The accident did not at first seem 
serious, and the Duke wrote a reassuring letter to his wife from the 
Villa Nevada, whither he had been conveyed. A fit of apoplexy super- 
vened during the following night, however, and at three o'clock on the 
morning of the 28th he expired in the arms of his equerry, Captain Per- 
ceval. When the fatal news reached Windsor it was gently broken to 
the Queen by Sir H. Ponsonby. Though almost overwhelmed with 
her own grief, Her Majesty's thoughts turned at once to the young 
widow at Claremont. 

The Prince of Wales went over to France to bear the remains of his 
brother back to England. The Queen and the Princess Christian and 
Princess Beatrice met the body at the Windsor railway station. On 
reaching the Castle, it was conveyed to the chapel, where a short ser- 
vice was held in the presence of Her Majesty and her children. The 
afflicted Duchess of Albany bent one last look upon the bier. The fune- 
ral took place on the 5th of April, the Prince of Wales being chief 
mourner. The father-in-law and the sister-in-law of the deceased Prince 
were also present. The Queen entered St, George's Chapel leaning on 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES 'AN EMPRESS. 28V 

the arm of the Princess of Wales, and followed by the Princess Chris- 
tian, the Princesses Louise and Beatrice, and Princess Frederica of Han- 
over. The Duchess of Albany and the Duchess of Edinburgh were too 
ill to attend the funeral. The Dean of Windsor conducted the service, 
and when he came to the words, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
dust," Lord Brooke, the intimate friend of the deceased, cast a handful 
of earth upon the coffin. With deep and evident emotion the spectators 
mournfully gazed upon the flower-laden coffin as it was slowly lowered 
into the vault and disappeared from view. 

Addresses of condolence to the Queen and the widowed Duchess 
were passed by both Houses of Parliament, and these addresses reflected 
the high sense of the Prince's mental powers and moral worth left upon 
those who were brought into contact with him. Earl Granville in the 
Lords, and Mr. Gladstone in the Commons, eloquently dwelt on the 
many claims which the memory of the Prince had upon the affectionate 
regard and admiration of his countrymen. So universal and sponta- 
neous was the national regret for the lamented Duke that the Queen 
published a letter thanking her people for their sympathy with herself 
and her daughter-in-law in their affliction. 

After some months of comparative seclusion, the Queen and Princess 
Beatrice left England on the 31st of March for Aix-le-Bains. From 
thence they proceeded on the 22nd of April to Darmstadt, traveling by 
way of Geneva, Berne and Bale. At Darmstadt Her Majesty assisted 
at the confirmation of her granddaughter, Princess Irene of Hesse 
which took place in the Chapel Royal. 

The Queen returned to Windsor on the 2nd of May. During this 
year she thanked the New South Wales and other colonies for their 
prompt offers of co-operation in the event of the extension of the war in 
Egypt; presented medals to a party of non-commissioned officers and 
men from the Soudan; and visited the sick and wounded soldiers from 
the Soudan at Ketley Hospital. 

On the 23rd of July, 1885, the marriage of Princess Beatrice with 
Prince Henry of Battenberg was celebrated at Whippijighaia Church, 
Isle of Wight, in the presence of the Queen, the royal family and a 
distinguished party of English nobility and others; but no representa- 
tives of the German reigning dynasties attended. Provision was made 
by Parliament for the Prince and Princess, and a Naturalization Bill on 
behalf of the former carried through both Houses, With this wedding 



388 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES 'AN EMPRESS. 

the Queen saw the last of her children united in the bonds of matri- 
mony. 

Her Majesty erected many monuments at Windsor to those whom 
she held in loving remembrance. One of the chief attractions of 
the Albert (formerly the Wolsey) Chapel— beautifully restored by the 
Queen— is a pure white marble figure of the Prince, represented as a 
knight in armor, with the epitaph on the pedestal, "I have fought the 
good fight, I have finished my course." In St. George's Chapel are five 
monuments. The first is an alabaster sarcophagus to her father; the 
second, a white marble statue to King Leopold, whom the Queen 
described as her second father; the third monument is to Her Majesty's 
aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester; the fourth to the late King of Han- 
over; and the fifth to the son of King Theodore of Abyssinia. The young 
Prince died in England, and his monument bears the epitaph : "I was 
a stranger, and ye took me in." Theed's admirable group of the Queen 
and her husband stands at the entrance to the corridor which runs 
round two sides of the quadrangle of the Castle. The corridor contains 
many pictures and mementoes of events and persons relating to the 
Queen's life and reign. At Frogmore is Marochetti's recumbent figure 
of the Prince, and space has been left for a similar statue of Her Maj- 
esty. There are also memorials of Princess Alice and of the Queen's 
dead grandchildren in the mausoleum. In an upper chamber belonging 
to a separate vault is a statue of the Duchess of Kent by Theed. At 
Osborne are many groups, statues and busts of the Queen's children 
and other relatives, which served to remind Her Majesty — if she needed 
such reminders — of the happy years in the past. 

The Queen once more opened Parliament in person in January, 1886. 
She was received with deafening shouts of welcome by the crowds 
assembled along the route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. 
There was a brilliant scene in the House of Peers, where the Prince of 
Wales and other members of the royal family, and a gorgeously appar- 
eled throng of peers and peeresses had already assembled before Her 
Majesty's arrival. As the Queen entered the House the Prince of Wales 
stepped down from his State chair and raised his mother's hand to his 
lips, Her Majesty moving to him with a graceful gesture. The Queen 
then took her place on the throne. She was dressed in black velvet 
trimmed with ermine, and wore the Koh-i-noor as a brooch, a small coro- 
net, the Order of the Garter, and the family orders. The representatives 




Benjamin Disraeli— Eabl, of Beaconsfield 

The Great Tory Statesman of the Victoriaa Age 




Daniel. O'Conxell, 

One of the Greatest Irish Statesmen of the Victorian Age 




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Empress Dowager Frederick 

Victoria Adelaide, eldest child of Queen Victoria, was born Nov. 21, 1840. She married 
Frederick III Emperor of Germany, who aroustd the world's best expectations by his 
goodness, wisdom and bravery. He died June 15, 1888. when 57 years old and was suc- 
ceeded by his son, William II, the present reigning German Emperor. The Empress is 
now 61 years of age. 



'QUEE^ VICTORIA BECOMES "AN EMPRESS. 393 

of the people having arrived from the Lower House, the Queen handed 
the manuscript of the royal speech to the Lord Chancellor, who pro- 
ceeded to read it in clear and firm tones. Her Majesty then left the 
House and returned to Buckingham Palace amid enthusiastic greetings 
from the people, similar to those which had marked her progress to 
Westminster. 

The year was destined to be fruitful in political surprises. The Con- 
servative Ministry were defeated on the laborers' allotment question 
during the debates on the address, and resigned office. Mr. Gladstone 
became Prime Minister, and introduced his Home Rule measure. Being 
defeated in this, he appealed to the country. The elections were 
unfavorable to him, and he resigned; Lord Salisbury once more return- 
ing to the helm of State with a Conservative Government. 

On the 24th of March the Queen laid the foundation-stone of the 
new Medical Examination Hall of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and 
Surgeons, on the Victoria Embankment. Her Majesty was accompanied 
by Princess Christian and Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg, 
and appeared to be in very good health. She was evidently much grati- 
fied at the many marks of respect and loyalty paid to her by the people. 
The ceremony took place in a spacious pavilion, holding about 1,000 
persons. The Prince of Wales, Princess Louise, Prince Christian, the 
Duke of Cambridge and the Marquis of Lome awaited the arrival of Her 
Majesty, whose advent was heralded by the strains of the National 
Anthem. The proceedings began with a prayer offered by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, followed by a hymn sung by the Savoy choristers 
to the Prince Consort's tune "Gotha." The President of the Royal Col- 
lege of Surgeons then read an address. The Queen in her reply said: 
"The erection of this hall is mainly due to the efforts you have made, 
in conjunction with the President of the Royal College of Physicians 
(Sir W. Jenner), with whom I have been long personally acquainted, 
and whose eminent abilities and far-seeing knowledge have justly placed 
him in the foremost rank of those who have benefited mankind." A 
number of lengthy documents relating to the origin of the hall, and to 
the two corporations, were then presented to the Queen, and these were 
mercifully taken as read. The stone, which bore the following inscrip- 
tion, and in which were placed the usual mementoes, was then lowered 
to its bed: "Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of 
India, laid with her own hand this stone — 24th March, 1886." The 



294 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS, 

Prince of Wales, who has had a ripe experience in laying foundation- 
stones, admirably assisted his mother in well and truly laying the stone 
of the new hall. The Archbishop pronounced the benediction, and after 
a stay of a few minutes Her Majesty left the pavilion. 

On the afternoon of the same day, while the Queen was taking a 
drive along Constitution Hill, a man ran out from the footway, and 
approaching close to the carriage, threw a letter into the vehicle. The 
package was immediately thrown out again, and as the man was stoop- 
ing down to pick it up, he was surrounded by a number of spectators 
and the police and arrested. The Queen continued her drive, though 
she had been somewhat startled by the incident. The offender was 
taken to King street police station. He gave his name as Thomas 
Brown, and was apparently about thirty-five years of age. The paper 
which he threw was a petition, setting forth that the writer had been 
in the army, but had been discharged and sent to a lunatic asylum. 
Having been released from there, he again enlisted, suppressing all 
knowledge of his previous discharge and its cause. On the facts being 
discovered he was tried by court-martial and dismissed from the service 
without a pension. He now pleaded that a pension should be granted 
to him, as he had served Her Majesty for twenty-three years. After his 
second dismissal he had again been for some time in a lunatic asylum. 
As the doctors were not prepared to certify to his insanity, out of consid- 
eration for his general g6od character, Brown was released from cus- 
tody. 

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition — the most successful and exten- 
sive of a series of admirable exhibitions at South Kensington — was 
opened by the Queen on the 4th of May. The Prince of Wales was the 
actual promoter, the executive President, and practically the director 
of this Exhibition, which reflected the highest credit upon the energy 
and exertions of His Royal Highness. The opening ceremony was very 
imposing, both from the dense crowds in the vicinity of the Exhibition 
and the brilliant gathering within the building. Her Majesty- was 
received with the most fervent greetings. As she entered the hall the 
fact was announced by a flourish of trumpets. She was received by the 
Prince of Wales, and joined by the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of 
Edinburgh, the Duchess of Connaught and other ladies of the royal 
family. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught each kissed her 
hand, and were in return kissed on the cheek by their royal mother. A 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 295 

procession was formed, which proceeded through the main portions of 
the building to the Koyal Albert Hall, where the opening ceremony was 
to take place. Here the scene was brilliant in the extreme. The Queen 
was conducted by the Prince of Wales to" the royal dais, where she took 
her seat on the throne. The National Anthem was then sung, the first 
verse in English and the second in Sanskrit. At its conclusion hearty 
cheers were given for Her Majesty. An ode followed, written for the 
occasion, at the special desire of the Prince of Wales, by the Poet- 
Laureate, and set to music by Sir A. Sullivan. It was sung by Madame 
Albani and the choir, and it was observed that after each verse the 
Queen smiled her thanks to the singer and clapped her hands. The 
Prince of Wales next read an address setting forth the nature of and 
the reasons for the Exhibition. 

Her Majesty made the following reply: "I receive with the greatest 
satisfaction the address which you have presented to me on the opening 
of this Exhibition. I have observed with a warm and increasing interest 
the progress of your proceedings in the execution of the duties intrusted 
to you by the Koyal Commission, and it affords me sincere gratification 
to witness the successful results of your judicious and unremitting exer- 
tions in the magnificent exhibition which has been gathered together 
here to-day. I am deeply moved by your reference to the circumstances 
in which the ceremony of 1851 took place, and I heartily concur in the 
belief you have expressed that the Prince Consort, my beloved husband 
(had he been spared), would hiave witnessed with intense interest the 
development of his ideas, and would, I may add, have seen with pleasure 
our son taking the lead in the movement of which he was the originator. 
I cordially concur with you in the prayer that this undertaking may 
be the means of imparting a stimulus to the ^commercial interests and 
intercourse of all parts of my dominions, by encouraging the arts of 
peace and industry, and by strengthening the bonds of union which now 
exists in every portion of my empire.'' 

At the conclusion of the speech the Prince of Wales kissed the 
Queen's hand, but she, drawing him towards her, kissed him on the 
cheek. The Ix)rd Chamberlain, at the command of Her Majesty, then 
declared the Exhibition open, the announcement being marked by a 
flourish of trumpets and the firing of a royal salute in Hyde Park. A 
prayer was offered up by the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Hallelujah 
Chorus was performed by the choir; and Madame Albani sang with 



296 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

thrilling effect "Home, Sweet Home." The Queen then bowed to the 
company, and amid loud and prolonged cheers descended from the dais, 
and, traversing the whole breadth of the building, mounted the steps to 
the royal entrance. As she took her departure, followed by the royal 
family, she expressed to Sir P. Cunliffe Owen her great satisfaction witJi 
the Exhibition. 

Only a few days after this ceremony the Queen visited Liverpool, 
where she opened an International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce 
and Industry. Her Majesty was accompanied by the Duke of Con- 
naught and the Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg. During her 
visit the Queen stayed at Newsham House. The Exhibition was opened 
on the 11th of May, the Queen being the center of a brilliant throng 
upon a specially erected throne, while the vast body of spectators num- 
bered some thirty thousand persons. As soon as Her Majesty had taken 
her place the orchestra performed an overture by Mr. F. H. Co wen, with 
which had been incorporated by royal permission a chorale composed by 
the late Prince Consort. An address was then read by the Mayor, and 
presented to the Queen in a casket. Her Majesty, in clear tones, read 
a reply expressive of her gratification in witnessing so successful an 
exhibition. A prayer, offered by the Archbishop of York, and a per- 
formance from Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise" followed. The National 
Anthem having next been sung, the Mayor presented to Her Majesty a 
golden key, which she turned in a model lock, and at her command Lord 
Granville declared the Exhibition open. The doors of the building flew 
open, and the fact being signaled to the North Fort, the guns were 
fired. Her Majesty knighted the Mayor, who rose Sir David Radcliffe, 
amid loud cheers. The royal party then left the Exhibition and returned 
to Newsham House. Liverpool was brilliantly illuminated in the even- 
ing, and the Mayor gave a grand banquet at the Town Hall. 

On the 12th there was a royal progress through the streets of Liver- 
pool. The thoroughfares w^ere lavishly decorated by private citizens 
as well as by the municipal body. The Town Hall and St. George's Hall 
were especially gay in appearance, and in front of the latter place a 
grand stand had been erected, which accommodated five thousand per- 
sons. There was a grand procession of trade and friendly societies, 
embracing 16,000 persons, with vehicles, bands and banners. Although 
unfortunately the weather was very wet, the programme was carried 
out in its entirety. The Queen and the royal party left Newsham House 



QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 297 

at three o'clock, and as the cavalcade drove through the streets it was 
everywhere loudly cheered. The route lay past the Exhibition and 
through Sefton Park. At the plateau in front of St. George's Hall Her 
Majesty halted to receive an address from the Corporation of Liverpool. 
Presentations were then made to the Queen, after which the royal cor- 
tege drove off to the Prince's Pier-head. Here the distinguished party 
embarked on board the ferry steamer Claughton, and steamed down the 
river on the Lancashire side, returning up the stream near the Cheshire 
shore. The Claughton w^ent as far as the Sloyne, and steamed round 
the Great Eastern, which was then lying there. Her Majesty also had 
an opportunity of seeing the training and reformatory ships moored in 
the Mersey, and the boys of those vessels gave her a warm reception. 
The return journey through the streets of Liverpool was made in some- 
what better weather. The Queen did not reach Newsham House until 
seven o'clock, when she was much fatigued, after four hours of driving 
and sailing. 

Her Majesty left Liverpool on the 13th amid warm popular demon- 
strations. Before entering the train at the Exhibition station she 
expressed to the Earl of Sefton her deep gratitude for the cordiality 
with which she had been received in Liverpool. She then turned to the 
Mayor and told him how much pleasure she had derived from the recep- 
tion she had met with from all classes. The royal train steamed out 
of Liverpool at ten o^ clock a. m., and reached Windsor at 3 :15. Through 
Sir Henry Ponsonby the Queen gave £100 to the poor of Liverpool, and 
to Lady Radcliffe she presented a costly diamond bracelet, expressing 
at the same time her gratification at all that had been done for the 
comfort of herself and her children. The Court Circular afterwards 
stated that Her Majesty Avas fatigued by all her exertions during the 
three days of her visit, but that she was greatly gratified and touched 
by the warm and kind reception which she and the Duke of Connaught 
and Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg met with from all classes 
of her subjects at Liverpool. 

On the 30th of June the Queen opened the Royal Holloway College 
for Women at Mount Lee, Egham. The college owed its being to the 
munificence of the late Mr. Thomas Holloway. It was erected and 
endowed at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling, and it offers every 
luxury and comfort for young ladies who may be fortunate enough to 
pursue the various branches of higher education within its walls. The 



g98 QUEEN VICTORIA BECOMES AN EMPRESS. 

list of visitors on the opening day included a large number of persons 
distinguished in all ranks of life. The Queen, with Princess Beatrice, 
the Duke of Connaught, Prince Henry of Battenberg, and Princess Louis 
of Battenberg, and suite, drove from Windsor Castle by way of Frog- 
more and Runnymede to Egham. At the entrance of the college Her 
Majesty was met by Mr. G. Martin Holloway, who conducted her to the 
chapel, where the ceremony was appointed to take place. The choir 
sang an ode written by Mr. Martin Holloway, and set to music by Sir 
George Elvey, after which the Archbishop of Canterbury offered up a 
prayer. The royal party then visited the picture gallery, where the 
contractor, Mr. Thompson, presented to Her Majesty a gold key to typify 
the nature of the function which she had consented to perform in open- 
ing the college. The key was most elaborate and costly in its design 
and construction, consisting of gold work, with a laurel wreath of dia- 
monds. After passing through the other portions of the college, the 
Queen at length reached the dais erected in the upper quadrangle, from 
which she was formally to open the college. When she had taken her 
seat upon the chair of State which had been provided, an address was 
presented to Her Majesty by Mr. Martin Holloway, setting forth the 
designs and intentions of the founder of the college. The Queen 
returned the following reply: "I thank you for the loyal address which 
you have presented to me on behalf of the governors and trustees of 
this college. In opening this spacious and noble building it gives me 
pleasure to acknowledge the generous spirit which has been manifested 
in the completion by voluntary effort of a work promising so much 
public usefulness. I gladly give the assurance of my good will to the 
administration to whom the college is about to be entrusted, and I ear- 
nestly hope that their efforts to promote the objects for which it has 
been founded and planned by your relative may be rewarded by a career 
of abiding success." The Earl of Kimberley, who was standing on the 
Queen's left, then stepped forward and said: "I am commanded by Her 
Majesty to declare this college open." This announcement was the sig- 
nal for a flourish of trumpets, after which the benediction was pro- 
nounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the proceedings 
terminated. The Queen and the royal party left the building amid loud 
and continuous expressions of loyalty. 

With this interesting public ceremonial — which adds one more testi- 
mony to many others e^dncing Her Majesty's deep interest in the welfare 
of her sex — ^the present chapter may fitly conclude. 




CHAPTER XII. 
VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

Fifty Years ou the Throne-~A People's Love and Loyalty — The Caraleade Passes Through 
the Streets of London— Envoys of Nations in the Parade— Thanksgiving Services in West- 
minster Abbey — The Night Illumination — The Children's Festival — Jubilee Honors — Par- 
dons to Military Deserters— Women's Jubilee Offering Fund — Eeview of the Troops at 
Aldershot— Naval Review at Spithead— Jubilee Gift to the Pope. 

HEEE had been other royal jubilees in the history of Great 
Britain, but none had surpassed that of the year 1887, when 
the whole land, together with the distant colonies and every 
quarter of the globe where the British flag waves, rang with 
the voice of jubilation that the great woman who had ennobled the 
crown was spared in health and strength to celebrate the fiftieth year 
of her reign. It was a thrilling moment when, in the blaze of the 
glorious June sunshine, the Queen drove out through the gates of Buck- 
ingham Palace on her way to Westminster Abbey, just as she had done 
fifty years before on her coronation day. But the bright young girl was 
now a grey-haired woman who had seen much sorrow and battled with 
many difficulties. Still, there was a gleam of triumph in her face, for 
were there not sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grand- 
children rising up to call her blessed, while the shouts of the multitudes 
which rent the air testified that throughout these fifty years she had 
retained the love and loyalty of her people. 

Jubilee Day, the 21st of June, was a day ever to be remembered by 
those who were privileged to be in London, and to witness the royal 
progress to Westminster Abbey. The day was observed as a national 
holiday, and fortunately was one of perfect sunshine. Houses and 
streets were profusely decorated, and the demonstrations of personal 
affection for the Queen were universal. Tens of thousands of persons 
lined the thoroughfares, especially along Piccadilly, Pall Mall, White- 
hall, and Parliament Street. The gorgeous cavalcade excited intense 
interest; the brilliant group consisting of the Prince of Wales, the 
Crown Prince of Germany, and the Crown Prince of Austria, being 
singled out for special admiration. 

199 



30d VICTORIA'S GOLDEN lUBILEE. 

Whenever Her Majesty appeared, however, she was the cynosure of 
all eyes. She drove in State, accompanied by the members of the royal 
family, and by the foreign potentates and princes who were her guests. 
The Thanksgiving Service in Westminster Abbey was most impressive. 
The interior of the Abbey had been completely transformed, so as to 
afford the largest possible amount of sitting accommodation. An eye- 
witness of the ceremony thus described the scene in the Abbey, and the 
order of the service: "King Henry VII.'s Chapel had been shut off, and 
not a single monument was to be seen anywhere. The Abbey was more 
like Cologne Cathedral than the Abbey Englishmen know and love so 
well. At either end — that is to say, above the altar and at the western 
end of the choir — were two immense galleries crowded with people. On 
either side of the nave, too, there were galleries filled with naval and mil- 
itary officers and their wives. On the floor in the nave were the Judges, 
the Lord Mayor, the Aldermen and Common Councilors, and a host of 
distinguished personages. The Beefeaters kept the line of route here, but 
they had little to do, for the arrangements were too admirable to make 
over-crowding possible. The choir was reserved for minor potentates 
and for the attendants of the kings and princes, who were seated within 
the rails of the sacrarium. Between the sacrarium and the choir was 
the dais, a wide structure covered with red baize, with the coronation 
chair in the centre. On the right of the chair the princes who accom- 
panied Her Majesty were to sit, while the princesses were on the left. 
On the altar was a splendid gold alms-dish and four large bouquets of 
white lilies. On one side of the dais were members of the House of 
Lords; on the other, members of the House of Commons, while above 
the peers was a diplomatic gallery, where a most dazzling exhibition of 
classes and orders could be seen. The Abbey, with the exception of the 
choir and the sacrarium, was full at ten o'clock. It was a most brilliant 
sight — one which will never be forgotten by those who saw it. The 
bright hues of military uniforms and the scarlet and ermine of the 
judges, blended admirably with the white dresses of the ladies. The 
black lambswool kalpack of Malcom Khan, the Persian envoy, and the 
fez of Eustem Pasha, the Turkish ambassador, were very conspicuous 
amid the brilliant throng. The royal children, who composed the first 
procession, arrived very quietly soon after ten. The Indian princes 
came about eleven, when Dr. Bridge played the Grand March in B flat 
by Silas, succeeded by the march from "Lohengrin." The Indians 




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formed a magnificent group, blazing in rose diamonds. There were the 
Thakur Sahibs of Gomdal, of Lieuri and of Moroi, the Maharajah of 
Kuch Behar, and the Kao of Kutch. Above all was the Maharajah 
Holkar of Indore^ who seemed to be a mass of emeralds and brilliants. 
Almost at the same time the Sultaneh of Persia, Prince Komatsu of 
Japan, and other Eastern princes were conducted to their places in the 
sacrarium, where also the Queen of Hawaii was allowed to have a place. 
She wore a large number of Hawaiian orders. Then there was a lull 
until about twelve, when Dr. Bridge struck up Lemmens' ^Marchei 
Pontificale,' to welcome the foreign royalties. The Queen herself had 
selected this piece. It was a splendid procession. The King of Saxony, 
who is blind, was led up the aisle by the Grown Prince of Austria and 
the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 

"The kings and princes who passed to the sacrarium did so by side 
passages; not one of them ascended the steps to the dais where Queen 
^Victoria and her family alone were to tread. Half an hour more of 
waiting, and then Sir Albert Woods, Garter King, who was watching 
at the western door, gave a signal. A voice as of many waters was 
heard outside, and the State trumpeters, perched aloft on the rood- 
screen, performed a fanfare on their instruments. The vast crowd of all 
that is great and illustrious in England rose to their feet. Dr. 
Bridge played the National Anthem, and afterwards, as the Queen^g 
procession passed up the nave, a march from the ^Occasional Oratorio.^ 
The clergy of the Abbey came first, and behind them were the Bishop 
of London, the Archbishop of York, the Dean of Westminster, and the 
Archbishop of Canterbury. After them came the Queen, attended by 
the princes and princesses of her family. The procession having reached 
the dais, the Queen took her seat on the coronation chair, and Lord 
Lathom and Lord Mount-Edgcumbe placed the robes of State on her* 
shoulders. She bowed low to the altar just before they did so, and then 
sat down. At that moment, when the scene was complete, the mise-en- 
scene was a very striking one. 

"The Archbishop of Canterbury began the service with some ver- 
sicles. Then came the Prince Consort's 'Te Deum,' performed by a 
choir of three hundred voices. The Archbishop then read three special 
collects, after which Psalm xx., 'Exaudiat Te Dominus,' was rendered. 
It had been set to music by Dr. Bridge, the chant being on the fifth 
Gregorian tone, second ending. The lesson, I Peter ii., 6-18, was read 



304 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

by the Dean of Westminster, and then came Dr. Bridge's Jubilee 
anthem, ^Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set 
thee on His Throne to be king for the Lord thy God; because thy God 
loved Israel, therefore made He thee king to do judgment and justice/ 
It opened with a chorus allegretto. Then followed a slow movement as 
chorale, and finally a chorus, which was a kind of second edition of the 
first. A unison, *To set thee on His throne,' served as an introduction to 
the National Anthem, which was rendered with full band and chorus 
assisting the organ. The slow movement was the chorale 'Gotha,' com- 
posed by the late Prince Consort and written in five flats. The final 
chorus was given with immense effect, and when its echoes died away 
the Archbishop read three more collects, and pronounced the Benedic- 
tion. 

"It was exactly half-past one when the Queen rose and gave her 
hand to Lord Lathom, who assisted her from the coronation chair. The 
prettiest scene of all followed. The Queen held out her hand to the 
German Crown Prince, who reverently kissed it. The Prince of Wales 
came next. To each of the Princes she offered, according to custom, her 
cheek to be kissed, but every one of them, equally according to custom, 
kissed her hand. The Princesses curtsied low before the Queen, who 
kissed each of them, and there was quite a touching scene when three 
times over the Queen and the German Crown Princess saluted one 
another. The procession was re-formed. As the Queen passed down the 
choir she bowed very graciously to every Indian prince present. She 
then retired for a quarter of an hour, when, amid an immense outburst 
of enthusiasm, she passed up Parliament street on her homeward route." 

London, west and east, was gaily illuminated on the night of the 
Jubilee. Most of the houses in the principal thoroughfares exhibited 
appropriate devices, some of which were very striking and very costly. 
Displays of a similar kind were almost general throughout the country. 
From the north of Scotland to the extreme south of England, beacons 
flamed from most of the hills, and bonfires were lighted and kept blaz- 
ing until daybreak. At ten o'clock p. m., a signal rocket, as arranged, 
was discharged from Malvern Beacon, and immediately afterwards 
beacon fires were blazing on all the principal promontories and inland 
heights from Shetland and Orkney to the Land's End. 

One of the most touching as well as one of the most thoughtful of 
the Jubilee celebrations, was a children's festival in Hyde Park, held 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

on the 22nd, through the generous initiative of the proprietor of the 
Daily Telegraph. About 30,000 children marched to the park in perfect 
order, and were there allowed to enjoy themselves with complete 
freedom, games and amusements of all kinds having been arranged in 
the space set apart for them. Each child was provided with a meat pie, 
a piece of cake, a bun, and an orange, besides being presented with a 
mug specially made for the occasion by Messrs. Doulton. The Queen, the 
Prince and Princess of Wales, and some of the Queen's royal visitors, at- 
tended the childTen's fete, and witnessed the supreme enjoyment which 
it afforded to the throngs of little ones for whom it was organized. One 
of the children was brought to Her Majesty's carriage and presented to 
her. The Queen then drove to Paddington, and thence traveled to 
Slough, whence she again drove to Eton, where she was received with 
great enthusiasm by the college boys. 

In the London Gazette a long list of Jubilee honors was announced. 
Earl Strathmore and Viscount Galway were made peers of the realm, 
and peerages were also granted to Sir J. St. Aubyn, M. P., Sir William 
Armstrong, Sir J. M. Garel-Hogg, Mr. Sclater-Booth, M. P., Mr. E. 
Fellowes, and Mr. H. Eaton, M. P. Thirteen baronetcies were created, 
and the dignity of knighthood was conferred upon thirty -three gentle- 
men, including the mayors of some of the large cities and towns. 
Numerous appointments and promotions in the Order of the Bath, of 
the Indian Empire, and in other orders were also announced. A royal 
proclamation was issued, granting a free pardon to all deserters from 
military service who should report themselves to their respective com- 
manding officers. 

At Windsor, on the 22nd of June, Her Majesty received the officers 
and general committee of the Women's Jubilee Offering Fund. This 
was a fund raised by subscriptions varying in amount from a penny to a 
pound, contributed by 3,000,000 women of England, Ireland, Scotland 
and Wales, as a present to the Queen on her Jubilee. The offering, 
which amounted to £75,000, was presented, together with a loyal 
address, which Her Majesty graciously acknowledged. On the same 
occasion, a handsome casket, carved out of Irish bog-oak, with a repre- 
sentation of the Irish harp on the cover, was presented to the Queen on 
behalf of Irishwomen by the Marchioness of Londonderry. 

In acknowledgment of the many tokens of sympathy on the part of 



306 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN lUBILEE. 

her people, the Queen addressed to the Home Secretary the following 
letter, which was published in the London Gazette: 

Windsor Castle^ June 24 

"I am anxious to express to my people my warm thanks for the kind, 
and more than kind, reception I met with on going to, and returning 
from, Westminster Abbey, with all my children and grandchildren. 

"The enthusiastic reception I met with there, as well as on all these 
eventful days, in London as well as in Windsor, on the occasion of my 
Jubilee, has touched me most deeply. It has shown that the labor and 
anxiety of fifty long years — twenty-two of which I spent in unclouded 
happiness, shared and cheered by my beloved husband, while an equal 
number were full of sorrows and trials, borne without his sheltering 
arm and wise help — have been appreciated by my people. 

"This feeling, and the sense of duty towards my dear country and 
subjects, who are so inseparably bound up with my life, will encourage 
me in my task — often a very difficult and arduous one — during the 
remainder of my life. 

"The wonderful order preserved on this occasion, and the good 
behavior of the enormous multitudes assembled, merits my highest 
admiration. 

"That God may protect and abundantly bless my country is my 
fervent prayer. VICTORIA, R. and I." 

No fewer than four Jubilee functions, in which the Queen bore a 
part, took place during the month of July. The first was a review of 
Volunteer Corps at Buckingham Palace, on July 2, when the metropoli- 
tan and suburban volunteers, to the number of 24,000, divided into six 
brigades, marched past the Queen. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of 
Connaught, and Prince Albert Victor appeared with their respective 
regiments, and the imposing spectacle excited great enthusiasm among 
thousands of assembled spectators. 

On the 4th of July the Queen visited London in order to lay the foun- 
dation stone of the Imperial Institute at South Kensington. This under- 
taking was one in which Her Majesty's eldest son, the heir-apparent, 
took a special interest. The Queen was received by the Prince of Wales, 
the President of the Institute, and by a magnificent assemblage of rep- 
resentatives from all parts of her dominions. An ode, written by Mr. 
(now Sir) Lewis Morris, and set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, was 
performed by the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society. Then followed the 
ceremony of laying the first stone, a block of colonial granite upwards 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN lUBILEE. 307 

of three tons in weight. Subsequently the Prince of Wales read an 
address to Her Majesty from the Organizing Committee of the Institute. 
In her reply the Queen said: "It is with infinite satisfaction that I 
receive the address in which you give expression to your loyal attach- 
ment to my throne and person, and develop the views that have led to 
the creation of the Imperial Institute. I concur with you in thinking 
that the counsels and exertions of my beloved husband initiated a move- 
ment which gave increased vigor to commercial activity and produced 
marked and lasting improvements in industrial efforts. One indirect 
result of that movement has been to bring more before the minds of 
men the vast and varied resources of the Empire over which Providence 
has willed that I should reign during fifty prosperous years. I believe 
and hope that the Imperial Institute will play a useful part in combining 
those resources for the common advantage of all my subjects, and in 
conducing towards the welding of the colonies, India, and the mother 
country into one harmonious and united community. In laying the 
foundation stone of the building devoted to your labors, I heartily wish 
you God-speed in your undertaking." 

After leaving the site of the new Institute, the Queen went to the 
Royal Albert Hall, where she witnessed the distribution ©f the prizes 
given by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 
for essays on the subject of "Kindness to Animals." The total number 
of essays sent in was 26,525, for which more than 800 ordinary awards 
were made and distributed by Lady Burdett-Coutts. The principal 
prize-winners, 35 in number, were represented by Miss Edith Merrifleld, 
who was called to the dais and presented with her prize by the Queen, 

The third public function was a grand review of troops at Aldershot 
on the 9th of July. The Queen had gone to Aldershot the night before, 
and slept in the camp. She was attended by a brilliant staff to the 
review ground, and 60,000 troops of all arms paraded before her. Before 
the march past, the Duke of Cambridge tendered to Her Majesty the 
congratulations of the Army upon her Jubilee, and in response the 
Queen expressed her sense of the love and devotion of the Army. The 
Duke returned to his position, and at a given signal the air was rent by 
the cheers of the whole mass of troops, the infantry hoisting their hel- 
mets into the air on the muzzles of their rifles. The troops then marched 
past, moving with admirable precision. The ceremony, which was per- 
formed by about 60^000 men and 102 guos, occupied two hours and three 



808 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

quarters. Then the cavalry and horse artillery, who had formed 
upon the ridge to the east of the Long Valley, advanced towards the 
Queen in one magnificent line about a mile in length, the flanks being- 
lost in clouds of dust. Gradually increasing the pace till it became a 
gallop, they were halted after having made a splendid advance, and 
the Queen with her escort and suite withdrew, passing through an 
avenue formed by the infantry. 

The last, and perhaps the most important event of all, was a grand 
naval review at Spithead, on the 23rd of July. The fleet was moored 
so as to form a double line of great ships, the centre of which was 
nearly opposite Gilkicker Point on the north and Ryde pier on the south. 
Between it and Portsmouth was a double line of coast-defense ships, 
gunboats and torpedo-boats. The vessels comprising the squadrons were 
anchored about a quarter of a mile apart, the space between the two col- 
umns being about half as much again. South of these were troopships 
with visitors, a large number of other steamers, and yachts. The total 
fleet numbered 135 vessels, including 26 armored and9unarmored ships, 
8 torpedo-cruisers, 1 torpedo-gunboat, 1 gun and torpedo-vessel, 38 first- 
class torpedo-boats, 38 gunboats, 12 troopships, 1 paddle frigate, and 6 
training brigs. The total complement of officers and men was 20,000, 
and of guns about 500. The Queen embarked on board the Victoria and 
Albert, soon after three in the afternoon, the royal yacht being followed 
by the Osborne, and by a procession of boats forming a royal flotilla. 
The entire fleet saluted, each ship firing twenty-one guns, and, as the 
procession passed by, the ships were drawn up in line facing to the west, 
the yards of the masted vessels and the turrets, breastworks, and decks 
of the unmasted vessels were manned by the crews, the marines stood at 
attention upon the poop of each ship, the officers, in their blue uniforms, 
occupied conspicuous positions, and the men cheered with a will, the 
total effect being unsurpassably grand. The end of the line having been 
reached, a wide sweep was made to the east before the royal flotilla 
returned. After a little delay, doubtless due to a desire on the part of 
Her Majesty for time to imprint the whole scene upon her memory, the 
yachts continued their course. Having arrived at the very centre of 
the fleet. Her Majesty ordered the ships in the procession to anchor, and 
directed signals to be hoisted commanding the captains of all her ves- 
sels to attend on board her yacht. When the commanders had collected 
iu'i-espanse to the order, they had the- honor of being presented to Her 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 309 

Majesty, who expressed the great satisfaction which the display had 
given her, and her appreciation of the hearty reception of the crews. 
The Queen and the other members of the royal family remained with 
the fleet until a quarter-past seven, when the anchors of the yachts were 
w^eighed, and directions given for the return to Osborne. As the Queen 
left the fleet a second salute of twenty-one guns was fired. At night 
the whole fleet was illuminated. 

The Queen held a court at Windsor on the 6th of July, to receive 
deputations from various public bodies presenting addresses of con- 
gratulation. On the 13th Her Majesty, with other members of the 
royal family, went from Windsor to Hatfield, to be present at a garden 
party given by the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury. This was 
her second visit to Hatfield House in the course of her reign. 

Space would fail us even to enumerate the celebrations in London 
and the provinces in connection with the Royal Jubilee. Mention, how- 
ever, must be made of two specially interesting events. The first was 
the grand ball given by the benchers of the Inner Temple on the 1st of 
July. Numerous covered walks were made in the rambling courts and 
buildings of the Inn, the whole of which was brilliantly illuminated. 
The second noteworthy incident occurred on the 6th, when the benchers 
of Gray's Inn revived the "Masque of Flowers," which had been got up 
by Sir Francis Bacon, and was originally played in their hall in 1613, 
in honor of the marriage of the Earl of Somerset. The performance, 
which was an accurate reproduction of the original masque, with the 
addition of some songs, was attended by the Prince and Princess of 
Wales and many members of the royal family. 

, On the 15th of July the Queen laid, on Smith's I^awn, Windsor Park, 
ttie foundation stone for the equestrian statue of the Prince. Consort pre- 
sented by the women and girls of the United Kingdom. A few days 
later Her Majesty publicly announced her decision that the surplus of 
the Women's Jubilee offering should be devoted to the benefit of nurses 
or nursing establishments, and she requested a committee to advise her 
as to the best mode of giving effect to this intention 

In December a special mission was dispatched by the Queen to the 
pope. Its object was to present to his holiness, as a Jubilee gift from 
Her Majesty, a massive basin and ewer of gold repouss^ work, copied 
from originals at Windsor, The basin bore on the central bossi^'^Tb'His 
Holiness, Pope Leo XIIL, from Victoria, R I,, 1888." A report, issued 



310, VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

by the Deputy Master of the Mint, with regard to the Jubilee coinage, 
showed that the number of five-pound gold pieces coined was 53,000, 
and of two-pound pieces, 90,000; but none of these appeared in general 
circulation. 

The Jubilee celebrations were a tribute at once to the loyalty of 
the British people and the popularity of the soYereign. The enthusiasm 
evoked web heartfelt and sincere^ and the whole aation was movedj as 
by one genuine and spontaneous impulse, to show its gratitude for the 
many blessings which had attended Her Majesty's beneficent rule. 

An incident which occurred in March, 1888, showed that the Queen 
never forgot those distinguished Englishmen who had served humanity 
and herself in foreign lands. Letters sent by Her Majesty to Miss Gor- 
don on the occasion of the lamented death of General Gordon at Khar- 
toum in 1885 were now published, together with a number of other 
letters^ sent by the deceased officer to his sister. The Queen declared 
that it gave her inexpressible grief to think that the promises of sup- 
port — which she herself had constantly pressed upon those who had 
sent out General Gordon — were not fulfilled. She keenly felt the stain 
left upon England by General Gordon's cruel though heroic fate. It 
should be stated, however, that in the light of Gordon's own statements, 
much may be urged in favor of Earl Granville and Lord Hartington, 
who were respectively Foreign and War Secretaries at the period of 
Gordon's brave but unfortunate death. 

The fiftieth anniversary of the Queen's coronation fell on the 28th of 
June, but in consequence of the death of the Emperor Frederick of Ger- 
many — who was extremely popular in England, both on his own account 
and because of the noble way in which he had borne his sufferings — 
the Court went into mourning, and the projected fetes were either aban- 
doned or postponed. 

Early in 1889, a most interesting meeting of the Privy Council was 
held at Windsor Castle, when the Queen received two Zambesi chiefs, 
the bearers of a special message from the African King Lobengula. It 
appears that Lobengula — who was the King of Matabeleland — in order 
to satisfy himself with regard to the existence of the "Great White 
Queen," determined to despatch two trusty envoys. They duly arrived 
in England, and were received by Her Majesty at Windsor on the 2nd 
of March; they were highly delighted with their reception, aind wished 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 311 

to return home as soon as possible to tell the King and his people of 
what they had seen as to the power and friendship of the English. 

The Koyal Agricultural Society determined to hold its Jubilee show 
this year in Windsor Great Park. Some days before its inauguration, 
the Lord Mayor entertained the Council of the society at dinner. The 
show was opened on the 24th of June. The Queen, who only came from 
Scotland on the 26th, visited the show on the 27th and also on the two 
foiiowing days. After being visited by great numbers of persons, the 
show closed on the 29th. Her Majesty presented the medals given by 
the Royal Society and the Eoyal Agricultural Society to the respective 
winners. 

The German Emperor, William II., with his naval squadron, arrived 
at Spithead on the 2nd of August. He was received by the Prince of 
Wales, and proceeded on a visit to the Queen at Osborne. It was under- 
stood that the Aisit was a semi-private one, and the Kaiser did not go 
to London. On the 5th the Emperor inspected the British fleet off Ports- 
mouth. This event was to have taken place on the 3rd, but it was 
postponed on account of the gale and the severe weather which pre- 
vailed. The fleet assembled was composed of 20 armor-clads, 35 cruisers, 
18 gun-vessels and 38 torpedo-boats, having a total displacement of 243,- 
522 tons, and carrying 596 guns and 20,000 blue-jackets. At a banquet 
given by the members of the Eoyal Yacht Squadron on the 6th, His 
Majesty expressed his gratification at having witnessed a review of the 
finest fleet in the world. He remarked also that Germany had an army 
equal to her requirements, and if the British nation had a fleet equal 
to its own wants, it would be regarded by Europe generally as a most 
important factor for the maintenance of peace. On the 7th the Emperor, 
with Prince Henry of Prussia, visited Aldershot, where a review of 
about 27,000 men of all arms, volunteers included, was held in his honor. 

Previous to the departure of His Majesty from Osborne on the 9th, 
the Queen reviewed the seamen and marines of the German fleet lying 
in Osborne Bay. Shortly before sunset the Emperor took an affection- 
ate farewell of the Queen and embarked on his return to Germany. The 
hearty reception given to the Kaiser during his visit, and the compli- 
ment paid to him by Queen Victoria in appointing him an honorary 
admiral of the British fleet, greatly pleased the German people, and the 
German press spoke in enthusiastic language of the efficiency of the 
mHitary and naval fbrcieg of Bnglaaid^ and her value as an ally. 



312 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

The Prussian army also expressed much gratification at the Queen hav- 
ing been appointed honorary Colonel of the Prussian regiment of the 
First Dragoon Guards, of which the Duke of Wellington had been 
honorary colonel, and which regiment was henceforward to be known as 
"The Queen of England's Own." 

The Queen, with the Princess Beatrice, left Osborne on the 22nd of 
August on a visit to Wales. Her Majesty's destination was Pal^ Hall, 
near Lake Bala, which had been placed at her disposal by Mr. Robertson. 
She was received with the greatest enthusiasm whenever she appeared 
in public. During her stay, Bala, Ruabon, Wrexham and Llangollen 
were each visited in turn. At the last-named place a descent into a coal- 
mine was made by Princess Beatrice and some other members of the 
royal party. The Queen left Pal^ for Balmoral on the 27th, after Prin- 
cess Beatrice had laid the foundation-stone of a new church at Bar- 
mouth. 

In the spring of 1890 the Queen again visited the Continent. She 
left Windsor for Cherbourg on the 24th of March, but in consequence 
of the rough weather was compelled to pass the night on board her 
yacht in the Solent. On the 26th, however, she arrived at Aix-les-Bains, 
where she was warmly received by the townspeople and visitors. She 
remained at Aix until the 23rd of April, when she passed through 
Geneva and Lausanne en route to Darmstadt Here she spent a few 
days, and then returned to Windsor. 

When General Booth published his remarkable book, "In Darkest 
England," and initiated a fund for rescuing "the submerged tenth" of 
the population, who were steeped in vice and poverty, the Queen sent 
him a letter wishing him success in h'is undertaking. . The fund grew 
in the course of two months to £80,000, but this was not, quite a "tenth 
of the amount which would be required, according to the General's 
estimate. 

The German Emperor and Empress, who had been visiting Heligo- 
land, Holland, and other places, arrived in England on the 4th of July, 
1891, on a visit to Her Majesty. Accompanied by a large suite, they 
landed at Port Victoria, where they were received by the Prince of 
Wales, and conveyed to Windsor, where their arrival. was heartily 
greeted by a large assemblage. The Imperial stay lasted for ten days, 
and throughout the whole jperiod the Emperor was actively employe^. 
Oh 'the '6th the marriage "of Prince 'Ariberf, of AnTialf, and Pi'fncess 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 313 

Louise, youngest daughter of the Prince and Princess Christian of 
Schleswig-Holstein, took place at Windsor. The latter couple at the 
same time celebrated their silver wedding, the Queen and the Emperor 
and Empress of Germany attending the ceremony. 

On the 8th the Emperor and Empress attended a gala representation 
at the Royal Italian Opera, where they had a magnificent reception. 
Two days later the Emperor paid a State visit to the City of London, of 
which he was presented with the freedom, and in reply to the Lord 
Mayor he expressed himself strongly in favor of peace in Europe. On 
the 11th the Emperor was present at a review of volunteers at Wimble- 
don, followed by a fete at the Crystal Palace, where a general review 
of the National Fire Brigade was held under the command of Captain 
Shaw. The Emperor and Empress paid a visit of two days to the Mar- 
quis of Salisbury at Hatfield, and on the 13th they took formal leave of 
the Queen at Windsor. They went north to Edinburgh and Leith, and 
at the latter place the Emperor embarked on board his yacht. 

In August the French squadron, consisting of six vessels, under the 
command of Admiral Gervais, arrived at Spithead from Cronstadt and 
was warmly welcomed by the English fleet. A grand review of the 
fleet was held by the Queen on the 19th, and the stay of the French fleet 
was marked by numerous festivities. On the conclusion of the review, 
the Queen sent a friendly and congratulatory telegram to President 
Carnot, who immediately responded in cordial terms. 

The year 1892 had scarcely opened before a heavy calamity befell 
the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the nation, by the 
death of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the second heir to the 
Crown. While on a visit to Sandringham, the Duke was attacked on 
the 9th of January by influenza and pneumonia in a severe form. He 
had caught cold at the funeral of Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langen- 
berg, another of the numerous victims of the insidious malady which 
then hung like a pall over the country. In the case of the Duke of 
Clarence, inflammation of the lungs supervened at an early stage. All 
efforts to arrest the complication of disorders proved unavailing, and 
on the morning of the sixth day after he had been taken ill he suc- 
cumbed, never having rallied under the skilful treatment and unremit- 
ting care of which he was the object His death, which occurred on the 
14th of January, was only within a few weeks of the date fixed for his 
"marriage with his cousin, the Princess May of Teck. 



314 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

The universal sympathy for the royal family evoked by the Prince's 
death called forth an expression of gratitude which showed that the 
bond between the Queen and her people was recognized as much by one 
as by the other. On the day of the Duke's funeral the following message, 
composed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, was published: *'The 
Prince and Princess of Wales are anxious to express to Her Majesty's 
subjects, whether in the United Kingdom, in the Colonies or in India, 
the sense of their deep gratitude for the universal feeling of sympathy 
manifested towards them at a time when they are ovei*powered by the 
terrible calamity which they have sustained in the loss of their beloved 
eldest son. 

*'If sympathy at such a moment is of any avail, the remembrance 
that their grief has been shared by all classes will be a lasting consola- 
tion to their sorrowing hearts, and, if possible, will make them more 
than ever attached to their dear countiw. — Windsor Castle, January- 
20th, 1892." 

A few days later there appeared in a special edition of the London 
Gazette (January 37) the following letter addressed to the Home Sec- 
retary: 

"Osborne, January 26, 1892. 

"I must once again give expression to my deep sense of the loyalty 
and affectionate sympathy evinced by my subjects in every part of my 
Empire on an occasion more sad and tragical than any but one Avhicli 
has befallen me and mine, as well as the nation. The overwhelming 
misfortune of my dearly loved grandson having been thus suddenly cut 
off in the flower of his age, full of promise for the future, amiable and 
gentle, and endearing himself to all, renders it hard for his sorely 
stricken parents, his dear young bride, and his fond grandmother, to bow 
in submission to the inscrutable decrees of Providence. 

"The sympathy of millions, which has been so touchingly and visibly 
expressed, is deeply gratifying at guch a time, and I wish, both in my 
own name and that of my children, to express, from my heart, my warm 
gratitude to all. 

''These testimonies of sympathy with us and appreciation of my dear 
grandson, whom I loved as a son, and whose devotion to me was as 
great as that of a son, will be a help and consolation to me and mine in 
our affliction. 

"My bereavements during the last thirty years of my reign have 
indeed been heavy. Though the labors, anxieties and responsibilities 
inseparable from my position have been great, yet it is my earnest 
prayer that God may continue to give me health and strength to wovk 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 315 

for the good and happiness of my dear conntrv and Empire while life 
lasts, ' ' VICTORIA, R L" 

A memorial service for the Duke was held priTately at Sandringham 
on the 17th. The coffin contaiDing the body having been remored from 
Sandringham House to the Chorch, the service was performed in the 
presence only of the members of the family and the household. On the 
20th the body of the Duke was conveyed to Windsor, where a military 
serrice was held, attended by the representatiTes of Tarions foreign 
countries and chief dignitaries of State. Memorial services were sim- 
ultaneously held in St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and at 
nearly all parish churches, Nonconformist chai>els and Jewish syna- 
gogues throughout the country. Services were also held in yarious 
places on the Continent and at most towns in In«iia and the Colonies. 
A general mourning was obseiTed throughout Great Britain. 

The Queen, who was much distressed by this melancholy event, left 
England in March for Costebelle, near Hyeres, a beautiful place on the 
French Riviera. During her stay here she received three Crimean sail- 
ors, and the grandson of Cartigny the Trafalgar veteran, who had <iied 
on the eve of her arrival. Leaving Hyeres on the 26th of April, Her 
Majesty traveled by way of Lyons, Dijon and Belfort, passed the Ger- 
man frontier, and reached Darmstadt on a visit to the Grand Duke. 
On the 3rd of May she returned to England. Towards the close of June 
the Queen visiteii Aldershot, and after laying the foundation-stone of 
a new church, was present at a march past of nearly 10,000 men of all 
arms. 

In consequence of the numerous complaints which were made 
against the Jubilee coinage, the Queen held a council at Osborne on the 
30th of January, 1S93, when she signed a proclamation announcing the 
issue of a new coinage from designs by Mr. Brock, Mr. Poynter and 
others, to replace that designed by Sir E. Boehm. On the 19th of Feb- 
ruary the Queen sent a congratulatory telegram to the Pop^ on the 
occasion of his episcopal jubilee, wishing him every happiness. 

The Queen and Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg left Wind- 
sor Castle on the 20th of March for Italy, where Her Majesty spent her 
customary spring holiday. The royal party sailed from Portsmouth to 
Cherbourg in the yacht Victoria and Albert. From Cherbourg Her Maj- 
esty traveled by a special train, to which was attached her private 



316 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE, 

saloon carriage. A large box of books and some sketching materials 
were put in the day saloon to beguile the journey, as the train did not 
reach Florence until late ih the afternoon of the 23rd. During her stay 
in Florence the Queen again occupied the Villa Palmieri. King Hum- 
bert paid a visit to Her Majesty on the 13th of April, arriving early in 
the morning and returning the same night to Rome. A few days later 
the Queen visited the picturesque old Tuscan town of San Gimigniano, 
famous for its fine frescoes and pictures. She returned to England on 
the 26th of April, traveling by way of Milan, Lucerne, Basle, Luxem- 
bourg, Brussels and Flushing. 

A few days after Her Majesty's arrival, official announcement was 
made of the betrothal of the Duke of York to the Princess May of Teck, 
to which the Queen had gladly given her consent. 

The wedding of the Duke of York and the Princess May early in June 
created much popular enthusiasm. On the 4th a State performance of 
Gounod's Romeo and Juliet was given at the Royal Italian Opera, 
Covent Garden, by command of the Queen, in honor of the guests 
invited to the wedding. The marriage ceremony took place on the 6th, 
in the Chapel Royal of St. James' Palace. Although the day had not 
been proclaimed a public holiday, the event was celebrated as such in 
most parts of the Queen's dominions. In London great preparations 
were made along the route of the wedding procession. In addition to 
the parents of the royal bride and bridegroom, there were present at 
the bridal ceremony the Queen, the King and Queen of Denmark, the 
Czarovitch, and other royal and distinguished personages. The dense 
crowds in the streets equaled those which assembled on the occasion of 
the Queen's Jubilee. Some days after the celebration the Queen 
addressed a letter to the nation, expressing in touching terms her sense 
of the welcome given to her "beloved grandson, the Duke of York, and 
his dear bride," on the occasion of their wedding. 

Her Majesty again visited Florence in the spring of 1894. Accom- 
panied by the Princess Henry of Battenberg, she left Windsor on the 
13th of March, and traveled by way of Port Victoria, Flushing, Stras- 
burg, Basle, St. Gothard and Milan, reaching Florence at midday of the 
1 6th. The royal party took up their abode at the Villa Fabbricotti. On 
the 10th of April King Humbert, with the Queen Margherita and 
other members of the Italian royal family, paid a visit to the Queen. 
Her Majesty remained at Florence until April 16, when she left for 



VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. ZVt 

Coburg on a visit to her son, the Grand Duke. She arrived there on the 
evening of the 17th, and was received with great enthusiasm by the pop- 
ulation. The marriage of the Grand Duke of Hesse with the Princess 
Melita of Coburg was celebrated at Coburg on the 19th, in the presence 
of Queen Victoria (grandmother of both the bride and the bridegroom), 
the Emperor William, the Prince of Wales, the Czarovitch, and other 
members of the imperial and royal families. On the following day the 
betrothal of the Czarovitch to the Princess Alix of Hesse was officially 
announced by the Emperor William to Queen Victoria. Her Majesty 
reached Windsor from Coburg on the 29th of April, after a longer stay 
upon the Continent than usual. 

On May 17th the Queen reviewed at Aldershot between 12,000 and 
13,000 men of all arms under the command of the Duke of Connaught. 
Next day she reviewed the Berkshire and Middlesex Yeomanry in Wind- 
sor Great Park. At a later date, when on her way from Windsor to 
Osborne, Her Majesty spent a night at Aldershot camp, where she was 
present at a grand military tattoo; and on the following day she held 
a review of the troops. 

On the 24th of May, the Queen's seventy-fifth birthday was cele- 
brated with much rejoicing at home and abroad, and a review of about 
11,000 troops was held at Aldershot under the command of the Duke of 
Connaught. In June Her Majesty was gratified by the intelligence that 
a son had been born to the Duke and Duchess of York — an event which 
provided a third lineal heir to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Two interesting ceremonies were performed in May and June by the 
Prince of Wales, acting on behalf of the Queen. The first was the 
opening of the new buildings of the Koyal College of Music at Kensing- 
ton, erected at an expense of £45,000 by Mr. Samson Fox, of Leeds. 
The second was the formal opening of the new Tower Bridge, which had 
been begun in 1886. The total length of the bridge and abutments, as 
designed by Mr. C. Wolfe-Barry, was 940 feet, and the opening span 
about 200 feet. The total cost of erection was estimated at £1,250,000. 
On this occasion Her Majesty conferred a baronetcy on the Lord Mayor, 
Alderman G. R. Tyler, and knighthoods on the two sheriffs. 

The Czar Nicholas II. was married on the 26th of November to the 
Princess Alix of Hesse, The ceremony took place in the private chapel 
of the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, and the national mourning for 
the late Czar was suspended for the day. At Windsor on the same day 



318 VICTORIA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE. 

Queen Victoria gave a banquet in celebration of the marriage, and nomi- 
nated the Osar honorary Colonel-in-Ohief of the Royal Scots Greys. 

A fearful disaster which occurred early in February, 1895, led to an 
incident which afforded one more proof of the Queen^s sympathetic 
nature. The North German Lloyd steamship Elbe went down at sea off 
Lowestoft, having on board about 400 souls, nearly all of whom were 
emigrants. Almost all the passengers were lost, to the number of 335. 
Miss Boecker, a German governess, was the only lady passenger who 
survived, and she owed her life to her own pluck and to the fact that she 
could swim. The Queen was so deeply moved by the terrible story that 
she sent for Miss Boecker, and learned from her own lips the full details 
of the sad catastrophe so far as the solitary lady survivor was able to 
explain them. 




WrNDSOH Castub 

(Side View.) 




CHAPTER XIII. 
THE DIAMOND JUBILEE— SIXTY YEARS A QUEEN. 

ThanksgiTings of a Nation— The Royal Family at St. George's Chapel— Seryices in the 
Churches of all Creeds — The Queen leaves WLudsor for the Jubilee Ceremonies — Her 
Reception at Paddington— Proceedings in Parliament— The Procession— Beautiful Dec- 
orations Along the Route— The Colonial Troops — Members of the Royal Families in the 
Parade — ^A.t St. Paul's Cathedral— The Night Illuminations— Dinners to the Poor— The 
Naval Reyiew at Spithead. 

N SUNDAY, June 20, 1897, the thanksgiving services held in 
all parts of the British Empire, as well as in all lands without 
its borders where Englishmen were gathered together, formed 
a fitting prelude to the great national celebration of the 
Diamond Jubilee. A nation felt that Queen Victoria's reign had 
brought manifold blessings not upon the British Empire only, but upon 
the whole race of man; that the lofty standard of public duty devel- 
oped in the United Kingdom during the sixty years, due in no small 
degree to the personal influence of the venerable Sovereign, had leav- 
ened the thought of the whole civilized world. It had sunk deep into 
the hearts, not of the democracy of England only and of the great 
kindred democracy across the Atlantic, but of all the rulers and states- 
men of the Old World. 

All of them recognized that she had filled nobly and with complete 
success a position of which the difficulties came home with growing 
force to the occupants of other thrones. She had done so by what is 
the simplest of all arts to those who are endowed with the natural 
gifts for its exercise. She had won the love of her people, and by 
showing in all vicissitudes a perfect trust in them had taught them to 
repose a trust equally implicit in her. The subjects of Queen Vic- 
toria's Empire, of all the many forms of religion to which the laws 
grant equal rights, were able on this occasion to return thanks with 
sincere hearts for the means by which the glories of the reign were 
achieved not less than for those glories themselves. 

The quiet ceremony of an unoflflcial and almost of a family char- 
acter at which the Queen herself assisted was most interesting. :No 

331 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

more fitting place for such an act of thanksgiving on the part of an 
English Sovereign than the noble Chapel of St. George at Windsor 
Castle could be chosen. The simple salute given to Her Majesty by 
those of her children and her grandchildren who were present recalled 
to memory one of the most touching and effective incidents of the mag- 
nificent service in Westminster Abbey ten years before. The Prince 
and Princess of Wales, and many other members of the Royal Family, 
together with the colonial Premiers, many of the Ambassadors and 
Peers, with representatives of the learned professions and societies, 
attended the solemn celebration at St. Paul's. At Westminster Abbey 
the Peers were present in their robes, while the House of Commons, 
headed by their Speaker, went in procession, as in 1887, to the service 
at St. Margaret's. 

At the Oratory, the Eoman Catholics sang a Te Deum in the pres- 
ence of Cardinal Vaughan and of Monsignor Sambucetti, the represent- 
ative of the Pope, while at the great Synagogue the principal Jewish 
inhabitants of London listened to a special service and sang "God Save 
the Queen." The Nonconformist churches and chapels honored the 
great occasion in similar ways. The tone of the preachers was every- 
where the same. All of them were able to point out to the vast congre- 
gations assembled solid and enduring grounds for gratitude and thank- 
fulness. In the words of the Bishop of London at St. Paul's: 

"The Queen has been the representative and mother of her people. 
She has shared their life, she has thought their thoughts. She has 
pointed them the way to higher things. She has her reward. She may 
boast, in the Laureate's words, 'their free-lent loyalty, my right divine.' 
She has taught the Sovereigns of Europe how to govern a free people. 
She has taught the freest people of Europe how also to be the most 
loyal and the most devoted to an hereditary Throne." 

The Queen left Windsor at noon on Monday. The royal town was 
gaily decorated for the Jubilee commemoration, and the streets were 
thronged with spectators. The Palace Guard was mounted in High 
street opposite the White Hart Hotel. The Queen, who was accompa- 
nied by the Empress Frederick, Princess Christian, and Princess Henry 
of Battenberg, and attended by Lady Churchill and the Hon. Harriet 
Phipps, did not proceed direct from the Palace, but drove with the 
other members of the royal family from Frogmore. The Queen, the 
Empress Frederick, and the Princesses used for the first time the hand- 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 333 

some suite of royal waiting-rooms which had been erected at the west 
end of the arrival platform. 

The Queen's entry into London was made in a worthy fashion. At 
the arrival platform at Paddington there had been great preparations, 
and the arrangement for the comfort of privileged visitors left 
nothing to be desired. Many flags of bright colors hung from the roof. 
The archway to the main entrance of the station opposite was beauti- 
fully decorated. At the foot of the gradient up which departing car- 
riages go was a, stand filled with the families and friends of the 
directors and the notables of Paddington, with crimson-carpeted 
ground in front from which the Paddington address was to be pre- 
sented to the Queen. Lower down the platform was a red baize- 
covered space, with an island of palms and hydrangeas at either end, 
marking the spot at which the Queen was to alight. 

At last the royal train, which was entirely new except for the 
Queen's special compartment, which was not new only because Her 
Majesty expressed a feeling of attachment to it, appeared in sight. It 
was as fine a spectacle as a train may be, with the royal standard 
fixed in front of the gorgeously decorated engine and the royal arms 
on the sides of it. The Queen made the passage to her carriage from the 
train, leaning on a Highlander and an Indian, while the troops saluted 
and trumpets blared. She was driven without delay to the Paddington 
vestry platform, where she was met by the members of the Presentation 
Address Committee. The address was read by the Rev. Walter Abbott, 
Vicar of Paddington, and ran thus: 
"To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty: 

"Most Gracious Sovereign: As representing the inhabitants of the 
Borough of Paddington — a portion of the metropolis with which Your 
Majesty has been familiar since childhood — we, the chairman and mem- 
bers of the Vestry of Paddington, desire to approach Your Gracious 
Majesty with our most respectful and heartfelt congratulations on this 
august and memorable occasion, when by the blessing and protection of 
Almighty God, Your Majesty completes the sixtieth year of a wise and 
beneficent reign. 

"That reign has witnessed great progress in every sphere of national 
activity, especially as regards the care of the young, the poor and the 
aged; whilst the ennobling influence of Your Majesty's example has 
be^n such that it would be difficult to find many persons who are 



324 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

not occupied in some endeavor to help others in the sorrows and 
struggles of life. 

"The recollections of Your Majesty's ever ready sympathy, dis- 
played so often in times of national sorrow, is engraven on the hearts 
of your people. We are more especially reminded of your solicitous 
care for the humblest of your subjects in sickness and poverty by Your 
Majesty's gracious patronage of, and interest in St. Mary's Hospital, 
an interest which was also manifested at the inauguration of the hos- 
pital by the presence of Your Majesty's Royal and lamented Consort, 
and which we gratefully acknowledge is continued by your beloved and 
honored children. 

"The people of the Borough of Paddington, the population of which 
has grown during Your Majesty's reign from 20,000 to 125,000, grate- 
fully unite with their fellow-citizens in the celebration of this, the six- 
tieth anniversary of Your Majesty's accession to the Throne, and they 
earnestly pray for a continuance of all those blessings which have hith- 
erto been associated with Your Majesty's reign, the longest, as it is 
undoubtedly the most illustrious, in our country's history." 

The Queen's reply, which was handed by the Princess Christian to 
her before she presented it to Mr. Abbott, was as follows: 

"I receive with pleasure your loyal and dutiful address. I rejoice 
with you that during my occupation of the Throne the generous 
instincts of my people for the care of the sick, the aged, the poor, and 
the young have exhibited themselves with such remarkable results as 
we see in this parish and elsewhere, and my sympathy and good wishes 
shall ever be engaged in the furtherance of such beneficent work. The 
interest taken by my beloved husband in these charitable foundations 
is felt equally by the Prince of Wales and my other dear children, and 
I am happy to think it has formed not the weakest of the bonds of affec- 
tion which unite my subjects to my Throne and family." 

Then, after the members for Paddington had been presented, began 
the triumphant progress through the streets, crowded as they had 
never been before by an assemblage of which the whole-hearted loyalty 
was beyond suspicion. The slight change in the customary route, 
whereby Oxford and Cambridge terrace, part of the Edgeware road, 
were honored, was a great success. The terrace, a wide thoroughfare 
with gardens and trees, and another roadway in front of the houses on 
either side, was ^aily decorated, and found room for innumerable spec- 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 3S5 

tators. It had a castellated archway bearing the legend, "Our Hearts 
thy Throne." The Edgeware road was crowded; and adorned and 
covered with polygot legends. These were preeminently conspicuous at 
the spot where a fine triumphal arch, decorated with natural flowers, 
spanned the road. Its own legend was "God Save the Queen." Hard 
by on the left was "Willkommen." On the right, in the oldest language 
in familiar use in England, were the words, "Duw gadwo ein Bren- 
hines," which, being interpreted, are "God Guard Our Queen." Here, 
as at other points along the route, Her Majesty was observed from her 
gestures to take special interest in the decorations; and here, as else- 
where, there was great acclamation, which she acknowledged gra- 
ciously and with evident pleasure. The scene in the park, which was 
entered by the Marble Arch, was grand. Never were more people gath- 
ered together in so small a space; seldom has loyalty been so effusive. 
All down Constitution Hill the scene was similar in character, and 
when Buckingham Palace was reached there was a tremendous crowd 
in waiting. Ceiiainly when the Queen's carriage and those that fol- 
lowed had disappeared within the gates of Buckingham it could not but 
be felt that the Jubilee had fairly begun, and that the omens of it were 
favorable. 

The House of Lords met at two o'clock, when there was a very large 
assemblage of Peers. After some formal business, Lord Salisbury 
arose amid cheers to move an humble address to the Queen congratu- 
lating Her Majesty on the auspicious completion of the sixtieth year of 
her reign, and assuring Her Majesty that the House profoundly shared 
the great joy with which the people celebrated the longest, the most 
prosperous, and the most illustrious reign of their history, and also 
joined in earnestly praying for the continuance for many years of Her 
Majesty's life and health. 

Lord Salisbury said that during the last sixty years the frontiers 
of the Empire had been continuously advancing, so that many new 
alien races had been brought under its sway, while many others for- 
merly within its boundaries had been made to feel for the first time the 
full benefits of its civilizing and educating influence. Vast changes 
in the center of political power and in the incidence of responsibility 
had been made, almost imperceptibly, without any disturbance of the 
progress and prosperous development of the nation, who were now 
infinitely more powerful, more united, and, above all, more knit 



336 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

together than they ever were before in their love and admiration for 
their gracious Sovereign, to whose moderation and controlling influ- 
ence in the working of national institutions it was largely owing that a 
period of much trial had been happily passed, and a height of greatness 
had been reached. 

Lord Kimberly most cordially seconded the address, observing that 
England never before had a Sovereign who had reigned so long as Her 
Majesty had done without for one moment forfeiting the affections of 
her people. Neither had the nation ever before had a Sovereign so 
capable of aiding her Ministers with wise and prudent counsel, or one 
who had invariably acted with such absolute impartiality towards her 
responsible Ministers, to whatever political party in the State they 
might happen to belong; while among all her subjects innumerable 
there was not, he was sure, one who had been more constantly actuated 
by a paramount sense of duty throughout a life not unbroken by severe 

trials. 

In the House of Commons Mr. Balfour moved an address of con- 
gratulation to the Queen. Having referred to the more important 
events which had occurred since Her Majesty's accession to the Throne, 
and which served to mark her reign as an historical epoch, he pro- 
ceeded to speak of the passionate devotion, affection and loyalty that 
the Queen had inspired in the minds of her subjects. It was true that 
the reign of Her Majesty had been one of unexampled length; it was 
also true that it had been a reign of unexampled prosperity; yet in 
celebrating the Jubilee the nation was not ministering to sentiments of 
vanity or of vulgar feeling and display, but was really offering the 
homage of the national heart to the great lady who reigned over it. 

It was because the Queen had understood the difficult and delicate 
task which fell upon a constitutional Monarch to perform, that the con- 
stitution of the country during her reign had been able to adapt itself, 
without friction and without shock, to the varying needs of the great 
Empire. In her public life she had been an example to every Sovereign, 
and in her private life an example to every citizen. It was because she 
had shared the anxieties and triumphs of the people, and because she 
had been animated throughout by the national ideals, that the nation 
and the House of Commons, as representing the nation, delighted to do 
her honor. 

Sir W. Harcourt, in seconding the proposal, said he could add but 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. Wi 

little to the eloquent and gracious terms in which the leader of the 
House had introduced the motion. It was right and fitting that an 
address of congratulation should be presented to the Sovereign 
through the House of Commons, which had the highest claim to repre- 
sent the sentiments of the nation. The Queen's reign began in a new 
political epoch, at a period when the real enfranchisement of the people 
had only commenced. It was an era of reform, social, political, finan- 
cial, and commercial ; and there was great need in those days for such 
reforms. For the maintenance of the vast Empire there must be a 
solid basis, and this could only be found in a prosperous and contented 
people. The speaker said he was able to testify that this was not 
always so. He could remember the time when disorder was rife among 
the masses of the people, who were impatient of suffering and of their 
miserable lot. Those who remembered these things could form some 
conception of the marvelous improvement in the stability of the nation. 
He well remembered the fears of those who thought that the extension 
of popular liberty might endanger the constitution of the country; yet 
under measure after measure of democratic reform each extension of 
popular rights had only strengthened the Monarchy. 

The great day of national and Imperial rejoicing upon which many 
hopes had been fixed for weeks and months came and went with 
triumphant success. Not a serious accident happened to impair the 
glories of a great occasion. To the framework of the moving picture of 
the great parade no accessory was wanting. The decorations along the 
route were more lavish and in better taste than they had ever been 
before. The stands, which many had feared to see half occupied by 
reason of the prodigious prices which their owners hoped to exact, were 
filled to overflowing. Their occupants, especially the ladies and chil- 
dren, added color and freshness to a scene already brilliant. In brief, 
it is no exaggeration to say that from beginning to end this unique 
celebration was perfect in itself and admirable in its surroundings 

The story of the day may be begun shortly after nine in the morning, 
in the open space opposite Buckingham Palace. That ground was 
already resplendent with soldiery, and every place where the general 
public was admitted was densely thronged. The people of the out- 
lying districts, indeed, had been traveling up to London and murdering 
the sleep of the inhabitants on their lines of march all night. Early 
dawn had already found spectators occupying positions in the neigh- 



328 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

borhood of Trafalgar Square, and midnight had witnessed men and 
women taking their places at the south end of London Bridge as soon 
as it had been closed to traffic. 

Already a brilliant assemblage was collected in front of the Palace, 
but the most striking feature was the gathering of spectators, standing 
in clear silhouette against the sky, on the roof of the Palace itself. 
Here, too, one or two members of Parliament, on their way to New 
Palace yard, but under no obligation to hurry their footsteps, halted for 
a long time, even until the Queen herself had started. The series of 
scenes which they witnessed was an ample recompense for their early 
rising. 

First came, in front of the Colonial procession, which had formed 
on the Victoria embankment, an advance party of the Royal Horse 
Guards, with the band of the same regiment. The Colonial troops 
themselves, which were under command of Field-Marshal Lord 
Roberts, V. C, were exceedingly well received, as indeed, were the 
Colonial Premiers. The troops consisted of Canadian Hussars, 
Dragoons, and Mounted Police, New South Wales Lancers and 
Mounted Rifles, with their graceful felt hats and brown boots, Vic- 
torian Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Mounted Troops, Queensland 
Mounted Rifles, Cape Mounted Rifles, South Australian Lancers and 
Mounted Rifles, Natal Mounted Troops, Natal Carabiniers, Umvoti, 
Natal, and Border Mounted Rifles, Mounted Troops of Crown Colonies, 
Zaptiehs from Cyprus, Trinidad Mounted Rifles, and a few Rhodesian 
Horse. 

All these mounted men excited admiration and applause by virtue 
of their picturesque and soldier-like appearance, their good seats, and 
their general excellence of horsemanship. Perhaps the swarthy New 
Zealanders, with the mystical black and white feather in their hats 
were the most admired. Then, preceded by the band of the First Mid- 
dlesex (Victoria and St. George's), came the foot — Malta Militia and 
Artillery, Canadian Active Militia, Forty-eighth Canadian Highland- 
ers, West Australian Artillery Volunteers, Trinidad Field Artillery, 
West Australian Infantry, Trinidad Infantry, Borneo Police, and Trini- 
dad Police. Of these the Borneo men attracted the most attention. In 
their police uniform of Khaki these men looked wiry soldiers and no 
more. Nothing of the barbarous was left about them save the black 
and white feathers on their scabbards; but one of their number was 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 3S9 

said in his uncivilized days to have taken thirteen heads in his occupa- 
tion of head hunter. 

Next, led by the band of the London Scottish, came Jamaica Artil- 
lery, Sierra Leone Artillery and Frontier Police, Koyal Niger Hausas, 
Gold Coast Hausas, British Guiana Police, Ceylon Light Infantry and 
Artillery Volunteers, and detachments from Hong-kong and the Straits 
Settlements. 

Meanwhile excitement grew keen at Buckingham Palace. The 
Duke of Connaught and Lord Methuen came galloping down; Queen's 
and Commander-in-Chiefs Aides-de-Camp added to the brilliancy of the 
gathering at the gates. Then came portions of the Naval Brigade, 
amidst great cheering, and Princes and Princesses, foreign and Eng- 
lish, in bewildering confusion. All things, in fact, were ready for a 
start. The windows of Buckingham Palace were lined with eager 
spectators, among them being the Empress Frederick. As the great 
procession began to move, the sun burst forth from behind the clouds, 
and gave assurance of an ideal day. 

In line were Life Guards, Dragoon Guards, Dragoons, and Lancers, 
batteries of Koyal Horse Artillery, and bluejackets with guns, enough, 
and more than enough, to provide a brilliant spectacle. The total num- 
ber of troops employed in the procession, as guards of honor and in 
lining the streets (including bluejackets), was 46,943, of all ranks. 

Very interesting, both as a sign of the respect in which Her 
Majesty was held in all countries, and on account of the gorgeous vari- 
ety of their uniforms, were the foreign naval and militaiy attaches; 
and great attention was directed to the deputation from the First Prus- 
sian Dragoon Guards. The officers of the Imperial Service Ttoops also 
came in for a large share of attention. Their dark-bearded faces their 
upright carriage, their strange and rich uniforms, were a delight, and 
Su Portob Singh, in his showy uniform, excited great applause at many 
points upon the route. 

Then the carriages began. First came five dress landaus and pairs 
with foreign envoys. Following them were two carriages caiTying the 
Lady in Waiting to the Princess of Wales, the Chamberlain to the 
Empress Frederick, the Lord in Waiting to the Queen, the Chamberlain 
to the Princess of Wales, the Lady of the Bedchamber, the Mistress of 
the Eobes to the Empress Frederick, the Lord Steward, and the Lord 
Chamberlain. The remaining carriages were thus filled; 



330 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

Eighth Carriage — The Princess Alice of Albany, the Princess Alice 
of Battenberg, the Princess Ena of Battenberg, the Mistress of the 
Kobes. 

Ninth Carriage — The Princess Victoria Patricia of Connaught, 
Prince Arthur of Connaught, the Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Hol- 
stein, the Princess Feo of Saxe-Meiningen, Princess Alexandria of Bat- 
tenberg. 

Tenth Carriage — The Princess Beatrice of Coburg, the Princess 
Marguerite of Connaught, the Princess Louisa of Battenberg, the Prin- 
cess Aribert of Anhalt, the Duke of Albany. 

Eleventh Carriage — The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen, 
the Princess Frederick Charles of Hesse, the Princess Adolph of Schom- 
burg-Lippe, the Hereditary Princess of Hohenlohe-Laugenburg. 

Twelfth Carriage — The Princess Charles of Denmark, the Princess 
Frederick of Hanover, the Duchess of Teck, the Princess of Bulgaria. 

Thirteenth Carriage — The Princess Victoria of Wales, the Duchess 
of York, the Princess Henry of Prussia, the Grand Duke of Mecklen- 
burg-Strelitz. 

Fourteenth Carriage — The Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, the 
Grand Duchess Serge of Kussia, the Grand Duchess of Hesse, the Grand 
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 

Fifteenth Carriage — The Princess Henry of Battenberg, the Duch- 
ess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Duchess of Connaught, the Duchess 
of Albany. 

Sixteenth Carriage — The Empress Frederick, the Crown Prince of 
Naples, the Princess Louise, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 

Then came the Colonial escort and a brilliant band of English and 
foreign Princes. The Indian escort followed, with Lord Wolseley 
behind them. After the Commander-in-Chief, who wore the order of 
St. Patrick, came the Queen's State carriage, drawn by eight cream- 
colored horses, gorgeous in their new harness, ridden by postilions, 
with red-coated running footmen at their sides. In the carriage was 
the Queen and accompanying her were the Princess of Wales and the 
Princess Christian. Close by the carriage on horseback were the Prince 
of Wales in Field-Marshal's uniform, the Duke of Connaught (general 
officer commanding the troops), and the Duke Of Cambridge. The field 
officers' escort of the Second Life Guards, and the Standard, and the 
great officers and equerries followed. That splendid body, the Royal 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. S31 

Irish Constabulary, and the squadron of Royal Horse Guards ended 
the procession. 

The long-expected pageant moved in stately majesty along its 
appointed course. Guns boomed in Hyde Park and the bells clanged 
from St. PauFs. Up Constitution hill, past thousands of civil servants 
and their families comfortably seated under the cool green trees, 
round by Hyde Park corner into Piccadilly and past the great houses 
the stream of gold and scarlet flowed like a sunlit river. The sight of it, 
the glory of it, the knowledge of its true meaning, evoked immense 
enthusiasm. Nor was there any room for doubt that Her Majesty 
accepted with no ordinary pleasure the tributes of eager loyalty which 
were showered upon her on every side. In St. James' street, and in Pall 
Mall, the demonstrations of loyalty, the cheers and applause were 
unbounded. At Marlborough gate the rushing populace clambered 
onto the gates and almost prevented the police from closing them. At 
Trafalgar square, where the Peers sat below the National gallery, and 
at Charing Cross, the scene was of the most brilliant description. The 
procession moved up the Strand, and when the State carriage drew 
up by the Griffin, it was met by the Lord Mayor and his deputation, on 
foot. The handsome sword in its pearl-covered scabbard, which has 
been presented by successive Lord Mayors at this very spot to many 
Sovereigns since Queen Elizabeth's time, was handed to the Lord 
Mayor by the City Sword Bearer, with a low obeisance. The Lord 
Mayor held the hilt towards Her Majesty, who merely touched it, and 
ordered him to lead the way towards the city. The Lord Mayor 
mounted his horse, and with head bared and sword held aloft, he rode 
to St. Paul's, followed by the carriage of the Queen. 

Of the pomp of the surroundings and the solemnity of the scene at 
the Cathedral, all those who were present certainly carried away a 
lasting impression. Away through Cheapside and King William 
street, past the Monument, and over the dancing river the procession 
moved, and in the south the crowd was even greater. Her Majestv 
still received the same homage of ovation. Past the Obelisk in St. 
George's road, past the stands occupied by the members of Parliament 
at Westminster, and the end was near. The scene was here perliaps 
the grandest from a spectacular point of view of any point along the 
line. A glance towards the Horse Guards parade from the Mall just 
before the head of the procession entered, showed such a brilliant 



33^ THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

framework of living scarlet to tlie picture as has rarely been seen; and 
the dark buildings in the background, with the green trees on the right 
and left, brought out the brightness and color to a remarkable degree. 
Her Majesty left the Palace at a quarter to eleven, and she returned 
at a quarter to two, so that the procession and services at the Cathedral 
together occupied exactly three hours. When the royal carriage 
approached the Palace, and when all the assembled Princes saluted 
the Sovereign, it would have been impossible to exceed the fervor of 
the popular demonstration. Thus, then, did Her Majesty's Jubilee 
progress, or rather triumph, end. Surrounded by the Princes of the 
great kingdoms, of the world, she re-entered the Palace, as she had left 
it, amid manifestations of loyalty and love. 

At night the center of London was a dream of beauty. To one 
approaching the mansion house from the westward, the first impres- 
sion produced was that of a flickering glow of many colored lights 
through a haze rising above the heads of a multitude of people. But 
a closer approach revealed the softness of the coloring and the elegance 
of the designs. 

Great attention was naturally paid to the illumination of St. Paul's 
Cathedral by searchlights. It had not been deemed safe to illuminate 
the dome in the ordinary fashion — ^to outline it with glow-lamps of 
gold and amber and all the colors of the rainbow. That, it was feared, 
would endanger the Cathedral, although as a matter of fact stone and 
lead, the materials of which the dome is mainly composed, do not 
catch fire at all easily. Certainly a thousand greater risks of fire were 
run elsewhere in the city. But St. Paul's is a national treasure and 
must not be risked. So the new plan was tried, and the result, if not 
remarkably striking, was pleasing in a modest way. At first a bright 
light was shed upon the golden cross, and the globe on which it stands, 
alone. It was a clear night, and even before the searchlight was 
thrown the crosfe stood in visible outline against the sky. But when 
the searchlight found it the cross seemed to glitter in the heavens; the 
light grew stronger, and the whole dome was touched. The weather- 
beaten and smoke-begrimed lead remained dark and gloomy, but the 
stone at the base stood out white and clear, and the watching thou- 
sands greeted the view with hearty applause. 

The general illuminations in the city were on a most extensive scale, 
there being not a single thoroughfare of any importance throughout 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 333 

the "one square mile" which did not have some display more or less 
noteworthy. In many side streets, too, there were tokens, humble 
though they might be, to show the love which was universally felt for 
the Queen. The principal illuminations were, of course, along and 
immediately adjacent to the line of route of the royal procession, and 
it was a noticeable feature how extensively floral and other decora- 
tions had been blended with the lights, the effect produced being very 
striking. 

All over the country bonfires had been prepared in readiness for 
a simultaneous display of beacons, and these were lighted at ten 
o'clock. In England, Ireland, and Wales detonating rockets were sent 
up five minutes before the time arranged to light the fires, to call 
attention from the larger heights, and at ten o'clock star rockets of 
magnesium light were sent up and the bonfires lighted. In Scotland 
the same arrangements were carried out half an hour later. The total 
number of fires in the United Kingdom was about 2,500. 

The Queen was again called upon Wednesday to bear a prominent 
part in the ceremonies commemorating her Diamond Jubilee. Early 
in the afternoon Her Majesty received separately each House of the 
Legislature, who waited upon her — the Peers headed by the Lord Chan- 
cellor and the Commons by the Speaker — to present to her their 
addresses of loyal congratulation. To these addresses Her Majesty 
made a brief but cordial response. Shortly before six o'clock the 
Queen, accompanied by the Empress Frederick and the Princess Chris- 
tian, left the Palace for Windsor, and paused on Constitution hill to 
review, in the presence of a vast and enthusiastic crowd of spectators, 
10,000 children from all the board and other elementary schools of 
London. A managing committee, including Lord Londonderry, the 
Bishop of London, Cardinal Vaughan, and representatives of other 
schools, were in attendance, and presented addresses, to which Her 
Majesty graciously responded. 

The royal party then drove to Paddington, and traveled by the 
royal train to Windsor, where great preparations had been made for 
Her Majesty's reception. The streets were profusely decorated, and 
the crowds of enthusiastic spectators were very large. At Slouo-h 
Eton, and Windsor several addresses of congratulation were presented 
and acknowledged, and the Queen then returned to the Castle, after the 
two most memorable days of rejoicing in the whole of her long reign. 



334 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

The Jubilee Dinner, provided from a fund originated at the sug- 
gestion of the Princess of Wales for the poor of London, was given on 
Thursday to about 310,000 persons in fifty-six different districts. Many 
of these dinners were served in large halls, but in some cases where 
the applicants were unable to attend the meals were sent to them at 
their homes. The Princess of Wales requested the Lord Mayor to for- 
ward to all the different districts a message to the effect that, though 
she would unfortunately be unable to be present at all the dinners, she 
would be with the recipients in spirit, hoping they would enjoy them- 
selves and give three cheers for their Queen. The message was duly 
circulated and was everywhere cordially received. Accompanied by 
the Prince of Wales the Princess visited three of these dinners^ — at the 
People's Palace, where 1,000 crippled children were entertained, at the 
Central hall, Holborn, and in Clerkenwell. At many of the centers 
the dinners were followed by entertainments. 

The Jubilee Naval Keview at Spithead, which was in some respects 
an even more remarkable and characteristic feature of the national 
rejoicings than the great procession of the previous Tuesday, took 
place Saturday, and brought the week to a fitting close. The weather 
during the greater part of the day was ideal, the gathering of specta- 
tors on sea and shore was enormous, and the success of the display was 
altogether complete, and was not marred by any serious accident. The 
British war vessels which had been gathered for the review were 173 
in number. They were arranged in four lines, each about five miles 
in length, along the noble anchorages between Portsmouth harbor and 
the Isle of Wight; and outside them were two other lines, one com- 
posed of the war vessels sent by foreign powers to represent them at 
the review, and the other of special merchant vessels, which were 
crowded with guests and visitors. 

Most of the larger warships. — ^the battleships and cruisers — were 
essentially of modern type, having been built since the prior Jubilee 
review in 1887; and the same may, of course, be said of the majority of 
the torpedo boats and destroyers. 

From an early hour on Saturday morning until near the time 
appointed for the review there was a continuous arrival at Portsmouth 
of trains, special and regular, from London and elsewhere, filled with 
intending spectators. Among the first to arrive were the Colonial, 
Asiatic, and African troops, who marched from the railway station to 



THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 335 

the town hall, where they were greeted with an address of welcome 
by the Mayor, and then proceeded, amid loud demonstrations of popular 
enthusiasm, to Southsea pier, where they embarked on the steamer 
Koh-i-noor. Nearly all the foreign Princes and other distinguished 
visitors who were present in London on account of the Jubilee, a very 
large proportion of the members of both Houses of Parliament, and 
other prominent persons were among those present at the review. 

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Duke of Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha and the Duke of York, reached Portsmouth shortly before one 
o'clock, and went immediately on board the royal yacht Victoria and 
Albert. At two o'clock the procession of yachts, led by the Trinity 
yacht Irene, and including the Victoria and Albert; the Carthage, with 
the royal guests and their suites; the Alberta, with other distin- 
guished visitors; the Admiralty yacht Enchantress; the Wildfire, with 
Mr. Chamberlain and the Colonial Premiers; the Eldorado, with the 
foriegn ambassadors; the Danube, with the members of the House of 
Lords; the Campania, with the members of the House of Commons; 
and the Fire Queen, with the guests of the Commander-in-Chief, left 
Portsmouth harbor and proceeded to steam along a track which took 
them successively between all the lines of war vessels. 

Soon after the royal yacht was clear of the harbor the first gun of 
the royal salute was fired from the Renown, the flagship of Admiral 
Salmon, and the firing was taken up by all the ships in succession, 
while the crews "manned ships," cheering vehemently, and the bands 
struck up the National Anthem. During his progress through the lines 
the Prince of Wales stood on the bridge of the Victoria and Albert and 
returned the salute of each ship as it passed. When the royal yacht 
had returned to a position opposite the Renown she anchored, and in 
response to a signal the flag oflflcers from all the vessels came on board 
and were received by His Royal Highness, who heartily congratulated 
them on the appearance of the fleet and the admirable way in which 
all the arrangements had been carried out. Shortly afterwards the 
Victoria and Albert returned to the harbor, and the royal party had 
scarcely landed before a violent thunder-storm broke over the fleet. 
In the evening the Prince of Wales with other members of the royal 
family made another tour of the fleet to witness the illumination, which 
was most successfully carried out and furnished a brilliant spectacle. 

To the end fortune smiled on the splendors of the Jubilee. As on 



336 THE DIAMOND JUBILEE. 

Tuesday the dullness of the morning was suddenly illumined when the 
Queen left Buckingham Palace, so on Saturday the weather was glo- 
rious during the review, and it was not until all was over that a thunder- 
storm broke over Portsmouth, and this was only temporary, for it 
passed off before night, and enhanced rather than detracted from the 
brilliant effect of the illumination of the long array of ships. 

The last royal salute was the formal close of this memorable day. 
The illuminations were still continued for a little time, but at midnight 
the flagship "switched off," and in a little more than a minute all the 
fleet was dark. Then could be seen what was scarcely noticed before 
— that the steamers, large and small, and the yachts and other vessels 
which surrounded the warships on all sides had contributed not a little 
to the splendor of the scene. Their illuminations were gradually extin- 
guished, and soon the riding lights of countless vessels alone were 
visible, while overhead the stars, long obscured in the gloom left by the 
storm, began to reassert the eternal supremacy which human effort had 
for a few moments rivaled and eclipsed. 

Weary, but glad at heart for the brilliant success which from first 
to last had crowned the events of the week, the populace retired to 
rest, filled with inspiring thoughts of the Empire, and of loyal respect 
and sympathy for the beloved Sovereign in whose person, even more 
than in her office, its unity was so nobly embodied. 




CHAPTER XIV. 
AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

War with the Boers— Dr. Jameson's Raid— Trouble with the Ashantis— Prince Henry of 
Battenherg Yolunteers His Services— He is Taken 111 in Africa— His Death— The 
Queen's Grief— The Remains Brought to England— Imposing Funeral Ceremonies- 
Marriage of the Princess Maud— The Queen Attains the Longest Reign of English 
SoTereigns. 

HE year 1896 opened in gloom so far as British relations with 
the Transvaal and South Africa generally were concerned. 
On the very first day of the year England was startled by the 
news that Dr. Jameson had crossed over into the Transvaal 
territory with armed troops. It appears that the leading inhabitants 
of Johannesburg had sent an urgent appeal to Jameson at Mafeking, 
alleging that the position of affairs in the Transvaal had become so crit- 
ical that at no distant period there must be a conflict between the 
government and the Uitlander or "outlander" population. 

After making strong complaints of both the internal and the exter- 
nal policy of the Boer government, the letter of appeal proceeded to point 
out that in the event of a conflict thousands of married men, women 
and children would be at the mercy of vi" ell-armed Boers, while property 
of enormous value would be in the greatest peril. The signatories of 
the letters felt that they were justified in taking any steps to prevent 
the shedding of blood and to insure the protection of their rights, and 
they therefore felt constrained to call on Dr. Jameson to come to their 
aid. They guaranteed any expense that might reasonably be incurred, 
and declared that only the sternest necessity had prompted their appeal. 
In response to this letter Dr. Jameson crossed the frontier near Mafe- 
king with 700 men. President Kruger applied to the High Commis- 
sioner at Cape Town to know whether the entry of an armed British 
force into the Transvaal had taken place with his knowledge and per- 
mission. The High Commissioner replied that he had no knowledge of 
the steps; that if the report were true. Dr. Jameson had acted wholly 
on his own responsibility, and that as soon as the report was received 
messages were despatched to the frontier to recall any force that might 

339 



UO 'AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

have moved. Urgent messages for Dr. Jameson's recall v/ere also 
despatched from the Colonial Office, but the absence of all news from the 
Transvaal led to the supposition that the wires had been cut. Dr. 
Jameson's force was said to be well provisioned for a four days' march; 
the message for his recall was accompanied by a message to President 
Kriiger, calling on him to exert his authority to prevent hostilities, and 
offering the co-operation of the British Government to bring about a 
peaceful solution. 

Official intervention came too late, however, as fighting had already 
begun. One report affirmed that Dr. Jameson had received the High 
Commissioner's messages, but had disregarded them, under the belief 
that the situation in Johannesburg had become critical. Jameson's 
force was attacked on its march towards Johannesburg, and driven 
from several positions. The Doctor was then surrounded hj a large 
force close to Krugersdorp. Jameson and his band fought with great 
determination; but as the support promised the leader from Johannes- 
burg failed to arrive, he was compelled to surrender with all his force. 
About seventy men w^ere killed or wounded. Mr. Chamberlain addressed 
a telegram to Sir Hercules Kobinson, regretting that Dr. Jameson's 
disobedience had led to deplorable loss of life, and instructing the High 
Commissioner to do his best to secure generous treatment for the pris- 
oners and care for the wounded. The directors of the British South 
Africa Company met and repudiated Dr. Jameson's action, and Mr. Cecil 
Rhodes subsequently visited England to tender further explanations 
to the Home Government. 

President Kriiger gave orders that the prisoners should be humanely 
treated, and he voluntarily decided to surrender Dr. Jameson and his 
fellow-prisoners to the British Government. Upon this, the following 
telegram was sent by Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Hercules Robinson at 
Pretoria ; 

Give the following message to the President of the South African 
Republic for me: 

"I have received the Queen's commands to acquaint you that Her 
Majesty has heard with satisfaction that you have decided to hand over 
the prisoners to her Government. This act will redound to the credit of 
Your Honor, and will conduce to the peace of South Africa, and to the 
harmonious co-operation of the British and Dutch races, which is neces- 
sary for its future dc-velopment and prosperity." 



"AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 341 

Tlie President, replying' tlirough Sir H. Robinson, reiterated liis 
intention to remit tlie prisoners to England, there to be tried and pun- 
ished for their invasion of the Transvaal. An amnesty was granted to 
all other disaffected persons who laid down their arms. Dr. Jameson 
Avas sent to England to be put upon his trial, and negotiations were 
entered into between the Colonial Office and President Kriiger to adjust 
the status of the Uitlanders. 

Another difficulty, and one that was destined to have a tragic result 
for a member of the royal family, was that which arose with the King 
of Kumassi, who in 1894 declared himself King of Ashanti. The trouble 
began apparently through the action of the French agents in Ashanti, 
who were trying to establish French influence there. The British 
authorities thereupon told the King that if he allowed this to be done 
he would be at once called upon to pay the balance of the war indemnity 
owing to the British Government. Matters drifted along in a very 
unsatisfactory manner, the forward policy of England in the Gold Coast 
Colony being greatly hampered by the King. At length an ultimatum 
was despatched to His sable Majesty, requiring him by the 31st of 
October, 1895, to signify his consent to the presence of a British Com- 
missioner at Kumassi, and to the establishment of a British protectorate 
over Ashanti. It was also stipulated that he should abandon human 
sacrifices, slave-trading, and the subjugation of neighboring tribes. The 
King, however, took no notice of the ultimatum; and after waiting for 
some time, it was decided to send an expedition against him, under the 
command of Sir Francis Scott. A battalion of troops of the line was 
also chosen for service. 

It was this expedition which had a fatal termination for Prince 
Henry of Battenberg. Before this time, although the Prince did not 
shrink from taking an active part in public affairs, he had never 
obtruded himself in them. But being born of a family of soldiers, it may 
readily be believed that had circumstances been other than they were, 
the Prince would gladly 'have embraced an active military career. 
Consequently, when it was announced that an Ashanti expedition was 
being organized, he eagerly seized the opportunity of taking the field, 
and volunteered to accompany it. Had there been opportunity for him 
to do so, there is no doubt that he would have distinguished himself. 
As it was, his presence with the expeditionary force was believed to 
have been by no means without effect upon the chiefs of various native 



342 AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

tribes with whom negotiations were carried on, his exalted position as 
a son-in-law of the Queen making a decided impression upon their 
minds. 

The Prince's offer of service having been accepted by the War Offlce, 
it was arranged that he should be attached to Colonel Stopford's com- 
posite battalion, which was ordered to leave Aldershot on the 7th of 
December, and to proceed to the Royal Albert Docks, there to embark 
on the P. and O. steamer Coromandel, which the Government had char- 
tered to act first as a transport to convey the composite battalion to 
Accra or Cape Coast Castle, and then as a hospital ship at or near the 
base from which the expeditionary force would proceed into the interior. 
Just about the time when the Prince's voluntary services had been 
accepted by the War Office authorities, all sorts of absurd rumors got 
into circulation, one of which was to the effect that he would not accom- 
pany the force to which he was attached, but would occupy a special 
saloon on a steamer bound from Liverpool for the West Coast of Africa. 
This rumor caused the keenest annoyance to Prince Henry, who had 
been most careful to impress upon the authorities that he desired noth- 
ing better than to share the lot of his comrades and to "rough it" in 
common with the officers with whom he desired to serve. Holding no 
military rank, the Prince took the position of an auxiliary simply, but 
he subsequently became military secretary to the commander-in-chief 
of the expedition. 

Prince Henry took leave of the Queen on Friday, the 6th of Decem- 
ber. On Saturday, the 7th of December, the Special Service Corps, 
detachments of Royal Engineers, and the Medical Staff Corps left Aider- 
shot for London, where they were to embark on board the Coromandel. 
Prince Henry accompanied the corps, and Princess Henry of Battenberg 
and the Duchess of Connaught were present when the Duke of Con- 
naught made his final inspection of the drafts in the Stanhope lines. 
Later on their Royal Highnesses attended to bid a last farewell to 
Prince Henry of Battenberg and the troops at the railway station. Just 
before the troops left, a telegram, stated at the time to be from the 
Queen, was handed to Prince Henry, and, amidst much cheering, the 
train steamed out of the station, the massed bands playing "Auld Lang 
Syne." 

The special train from Aldershot reached the docks at 1 :25 and drew 
up alongside the great shed in which the troops were to be inspected 



'AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 343 

prior to going on board. The first to alight and take up a position on 
the parade was Prince Henry. As he held no command, he took up a 
position at one side of the parade, while the respective companies were 
formed up for inspection by Lord Wolseley. During this temporary 
wait a press representative had a short conversation with the Prince, 
who, referring to the fine physique and general turn-out of the troops, 
said: "Yes, they are all picked men, you know, and a fine lot of fellows 
they are. Look at those Guards, for instance." Asked if he thought 
serious fighting was really anticipated, Prince Henry said: "You never 
know how to take these natives, and, of course, it is difficult to. say; 
but my personal opinion is that the climate will be one of the most 
serious obstacles to the expedition. However, these fellows look fit and 
well enough to withstand either that or the Ashantis, or both, and I 
have no doubt they will give a good account of themselves." Prince 
Henry was among the last to embark, and was heartily greeted by the 
headquarters staff. The steamer left the Thames on Sunday morning, 
the 8th of December, at half-past five. She reached Las Palmas on 
the following Friday evening, the 13th of December. The Prince was 
then reported to be in "excellent health." The Coromandel sailed again 
the same evening. Cape Coast Castle was reached on Christmas morn- 
ing. Friday was also spent at Cape Coast Castle, but at three o'clock 
on the following morning the Prince started off with the headquarters 
staff and was again reported to be in "excellent health," when he arrived 
with Sir Francis Scott and Prince Christian Victor at Akroful on that 
Saturday afternoon. They pushed on still further to Mansee that same 
evening, though the heat was most oppressive in the forest and bush 
they traversed. 

Prince Henry seems to have then first felt the enervating dampness 
of the climate, because, in order to escape as much as possible the debili- 
tating influences of the heat, he got up the next morning at a very early 
hour, had out his bearers, and started off in advance of the staff. He 
and Prince Christian Victor were treated in exactly the same manner as 
the other officers, each of whom had at his disposal a hammock carried 
by four men, the bearers being changed at intervals. Sula was reached 
that day, and Assim Yan Kumassi on Monday. These marches were 
still through thick African forests, in oppressive heat. A halt was made 
during the following day, and it was on this New Year's Eve that the 
palaver took place with the King of Akim-Ashanti, to whom Prince 



344 AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

Henry was introduced by Sir Francis Scott "as tlie husband of one of 
Queen Victoria's daughters," His Royal Highness thereupon becoming 
an object of very especial interest to chiefs and headmen. While the 
staff was at this post it was announced that the Prince had been 
appointed military secretary to the Commander-in-Chief. 

At Praten, the next post, a stay of some days' duration was made 
by the staff. Essiaman was reached by the Prince and headquarters 
staff on January 6. The climate was now beginning to tell on the 
troops, and the principal medical ofldcer set out to inspect Mansehill, 
which lies at an altitude of 1,500 feet, with the view^ of establishing a 
sanatorium there. 

The first news of Prince Henry's illness was received in a Renter 
telegram, from Kwisa, dated January 10th; the message, stating that 
"Prince Henry of Battenberg has had a slight attack of fever, and has 
gone back to the base in charge of Surgeon-Captain Hilliard." The 
War Office had a telegram dated January 12th; Cape Coast Castle: "Bat- 
tenberg just arrived at Prahsee; state of health worse; will remain at 
Prahsee." Telegraphic communication was about this time much inter- 
rupted by the broken cable between Bathurst and Accra. The next 
news was dated January 15, and was contained in a Renter telegram 
from Mansee: "Prince Henry of Battenberg passed a restless night, 
but his temperature is lower this morning. The Prince's strength is 
good, and he will continue his journey to the coast." A telegram from 
Cape Coast Castle, dated January 17, announced that the Prince had 
embarked that day on board Her Majesty's cruiser Blonde, for Madeira. 
Surgeon-Captain Hilliard accompanied His Royal Highness. The tele- 
gram added that "The Prince, though weak, showed no grave symp- 
toms." 

The war with Ashanti had a speedy and satisfactory termination for 
England. On the 17th Sir Francis Scott occupied Kumassi unopposed, 
and King Prempeh accepted all the British demands. There w^as uni- 
versal native rejoicing along the Gold Coast at the bloodless victory of 
the British, and the prospect which it offered of a resumption of trade 
and the return of prosperity. 

On the 20th of January the Queen received with much gratificatiou 
a message from Sir Francis Scott to the effect that he had made a 
peaceful entry into Kumassi. That the personal news respecting the 
Prince was regarded as hopeful is shown from the fact that on the same 



AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 345 

evening the Queen — accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Con- 
naught, Princess Henry of Battenberg, the Marchioness of Lome and 
the Marquis of Lome, M. P. — was present at a private performance of 
Mr. Pinero's Money Spinner, given at Osborne. The Indian Room was 
decorated, and provision was made for about 100 guests. The principal 
parts were played by the Earl of Dartmouth, Mr. H. H. Share, R. N., 
the Hon. A. G. Yorke, Colonel Arthur Collins, the Hon. Mary Hughes, 
the Hon. Aline Majendie and Miss Evelyn Moreton. The performance 
was so successful that Her Majesty ordered it to be repeated. 

Within a few days, however, the Court and the nation were plunged 
in gloom. On the 22ud the sad news arrived that the Prince had died 
on the night of the 20th, on board the cruiser Blonde, which was con- 
veying him from Cape Coast Castle to Madeira. The attack of African 
fever from which the Prince was suffering had shown no very grave 
symptoms up to the time when he embarked on board the Blonde, but on 
the 19th there was a relapse, from which he was too weak to rally. At 
the time of the Prince's death the cruiser was not far from Sierra Leone, 
and she at once put back for that port, whence telegrams were 
despatched to the Queen at Osborne, to the War Office and to the 
Admiralty. 

The news was a terrible shock to Her Majesty and to the widowed 
Princess, whose latest previous information as to the state of her hus- 
band's health had been favorable. Under the Queen's own sign manual 
it was announced that she was most deeply afflicted in seeing her 
beloved daughter's happy life crushed, and in losing a most amiable and 
affectionate son-in-law, to whom she was much devoted. The Princess 
Beatrice, thinking of her children, sustained the awful shock with com- 
mendable fortitude and resignation. 

The review by the Queen of the Flying Squadron, which had been 
apxoointed for the 22nd, was at once abandoned, and all other State 
arrangements were cancelled. The Prince's death evoked widespread 
sorrow and sympathy in London, the Isle of Wight and elsewhere, 
where he was known and greatly esteemed; and a constant stream of 
telegrams and letters of condolence were forwarded to the Queen by 
Cabinet Ministers and others. Lord Lansdowne, Secretary for War, in 
addressing a Unionist meeting at Salisbury, paid a warm tribute to the 
memory of the Prince, who, he said, had died in the service of his coun- 
try as truly as if he had fallen on the field of battle. 



346 AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

When tlie news of the Princess death first arrived it was the Queen 
herself who, with the Duke of Connaught, undertook to communicate 
the sad tidings to Princess Beatrice. The Princess at first scarcely 
realized the dreadful news. She had naturally been anxious regarding 
her husband's health for some days, but all the reports agreed that he 
was getting better; and so satisfied were the royal family of this that 
a dinner party was to have been given the same night in honor of the 
officers of the Flying Squadron, to be followed by a theatrical perform- 
ance at the Palace. Sir James Reid, the Queen's physician, reported 
that Her Majesty and Princess Beatrice were well in health but over- 
whelmed with grief. They had, however, some small consolation in the 
knowledge that Mr. Butcher, Prince Henry's trusted personal attendant, 
was with him when he died. The Prince and Princess of Wales and 
their family were at Sandringham when the mournful intelligence of the 
Prince's death reached them. 

A distinguished naval officer who was brought into frequent contact 
with the deceased Prince said, on being asked what object His Royal 
Highness had in taking part in the Ashanti Expedition, "It was like 
this. Prince Henry was a soldier and a brave fellow. He was anxious 
to do something, and, if possible, to win a military position for himself, 
and he thought here was the opportunity. He was tired of stopping 
at home with nothing to do." Prince Henry told another officer before 
leaving that he wished he was going out in command of a regiment to 
Ashanti. 

The Prince's death drew sympathetic messages from every capital in 
Europe, while the Canadian Legislature and other public bodies at home 
and abroad passed addresses of condolence to the Queen and her wid- 
owed daughter. The English Court went into mourning from the 23rd 
of January to the 5th of March. As ill-founded reports were spread as 
to the state of the Queen's health. Sir James Reid issued the following 
bulletin on January 24th, to allay the fears of the public: — "The Queen 
and Princess Beatrice are in good health, and are bearing up' with forti- 
tude and resignation." Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, Prince 
Henry's youngest brother, arrived at Osborne from the Continent on the 
evening of the 24th. President Cleveland, having received through Sir 
Julian Pauncefote the intelligence of the death of Prince Henry, tele- 
graphed through Mr. Bayard his sincere condolences with Her Majesty 
and the royal family. 



AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 347 

It was decided in accordance with the testamentary wishes of the 
dead Prince that his funeral should take place at Whippingham, in the 
Isle of Wight, instead of at Windsor. It was also decided that the fun- 
eral should be a military one. 

The Blenheim, first-class cruiser, was sent out to Madeira to escort 
the Blonde, with the Prince's remains on board, to Portsmouth. Lord 
AVilliam Cecil, Princess Beatrice's equerry, accompanied the Blenheim, 
in order to direct the arrangements for the remainder of the voyage. 
There was reason to believe that pain had been given to Her Majesty 
and the Princess Beatrice by perfectly groundless and gratuitous state- 
ments which had been made in the public press to the effect that the 
Prince's death was accelerated by the hurry with which he was brought 
down the country to Cape Coast Castle, and taken in the direction of 
Madeira, and that all this precipitation was in compliance with instruc- 
tions from the Court. This statement was without the remotest founda- 
tion. No such instructions were sent by Her Majesty or the Princess, 
or with their cognizance. The first they knew of such proceedings was 
that they had actually been put into operation, and the whole, it was 
presumed, was done under the direction and in accordance with the 
discretion of the Prince's medical attendant. 

Notwithstanding her own sorrow, Her Majesty never forgets the sor- 
rows of others. When the news of the sudden death of Sir Joseph 
Barnby, the musical conductor and composer, reached Osborne, the 
following telegram was despatched by her private secretary to Lady 
Barnby: — "The Queen desires me to say she is trulg*^ sorry to hear of Sir 
Joseph Barnby's death, and Her Majesty offers you her deep sympathy 
in your great bereavement." So, also, when the funeral of Captain Le 
Clerc, Naval Attache at the French Embassy, took place at Dieppe, his 
native place, there appeared on the coffin a wreath, sent with a card of 
gracious sympathy by the Queen, which had been placed there at the 
funeral service in London, and had never been disturbed even in the 
journey across the Channel. Yet again she manifested her sympathy, 
when the remains of the distinguished President of the Royal Academy, 
Lord Leighton, were laid to rest in St. Paul's Cathedral. 

The Blonde arrived at Madeira on the 30th of January, having ou 
board the embalmed body of the Prince. The body was transferred to 
the Blenheim, which vessel was followed by a procession of nine boats. 
Minute guns were fired, and the band of the Blenheim played the "Dead 



348 AFRICAN '^ENTS TO THE FORE. 

March" in Saul, and the National Anthem. When the body, was brought 
alongside, the ship's bells were tolled, and the remains having been 
taken on board, a short service was read by the Rev. James Blunn, 
Chaplain of the Blenheim. The British Consul and Vice-Consul and 
others were present. The Municipal Council of Funchal sent a beauti- 
ful wreath. All the flags on the forts and in the harbor were at half- 
mast. 

The Prince's body was contained within three enclosures — a shell, a 
leaden casket, and an outer coffin — the last being of polished oak, with 
brass fittings. The inscription on the name-plate, which was surmounted 
by a cross, read as follows: — "Henry Maurice, Prince of Battenberg, 
Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Born at Milan, October 
5th, 1858. Died January 20th, 1896, of fever, on board H. M. S. Blonde, 
off the African coast, on returning from the Ashanti Expedition. 
'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.' " 

The Blenheim arrived at Plymouth on the morning of February .3rd. 

The vessel was made fast to a buoy, and a pilot at once went on board 
with letters which had been received by Admiral Sir Algernon Lyons 
from the Queen and from official quarters, addressed to the commanding 
officer of the Blenheim. None of the officers or crew left the vessel. 
Even the customary visit of the Captain to the Commander-in-Chief at 
the post was dispensed with. In the course of the morning Sir Algernon 
Lyons received further official despatches for the Captain of the Blen- 
heim and these were taken aboard by the Traveller, special service ves- 
sel. The coffin containing Prince Henry's body occupied a cabin on the 
first deck in the after-part of the sbip, this chamber having been fitted 
up on the Blenheim's outward journey. The coffin was covered with a 
Union Jack, and about it were placed wreaths from the Queen and the 
widowed Princess. The Blenheim, which had covered the distance froui 
Madeira at an average speed of twenty-one knots, had her ensign at half- 
mast, and when she reached Plymouth the flags at all the military and 
naval establishments, and on the ships, and most of the public build- 
ino-s in the three towns, were lowered and remained at half-mast until 
the cruiser left the Sound about 2 o'clock. 

At half-past 5 a. m. on the 4th the Blenheim anchored at Spithead, 
Here she remained for some hours, pending the commencement of th(^ 
naval ceremonial. 

About one o'clock the Royal yacht Alberta left Cowes, conveyin,!; 



AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 349 

Princess Beatrice, Princess Christian, tlie Duke of Connaught, Prince 
Louis of Battenberg, Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, with Mr. H. 
C. Legge, Lord William Cecil, and Sir J. Reid, to Portsmouth. It was 
ten minutes to two as she passed the Inflexible, port guardship, where 
the marine guard was drawn up on the quarter-deck as the royal yacht 
entered the harbor, and in ten minutes more she was alongside the jetty, 
astern of the Blenheim, which was "manned" on her arrival. Almost 
immediately after the Alberta was berthed, a steam launch, with Rear- 
Admiral FuUerton in charge, left her on the starboard side. 

In the launch were Princess Beatrice and the other members of the 
royal family and relatives of Prince Henry, who thus reached the Blen- 
heim. They w^ere received by Sir Nowell Salmon and Rear- Admiral 
Rice, with Flag-Lieutenant Pennant Lloyd, Major Sumner, and Captain 
J. Shawe-Taj^lor, in addition to Captain Poe. They saw the coffin lying 
in the white draped cabin aft usually occupied by the commanding offi- 
cer, with the Union Jack lying over it and the wreaths sent by the 
Queen and Princess Beatrice beside it, and they took part in the short 
service which was read by the Bishop of Winchester, who was assisted 
by the Rev. James Blunn, Chaplain of theBlenheim. Then the Princesses 
returned to the Alberta, as before, in a launch, while the Duke of Con- 
naught and the others who have been named followed the coffin, borne 
on a bier of Garter blue by sailors from the royal yacht. It was placed 
on the after-deck of the Alberta. So far the scene had been impressive, 
partly by reason of the deep sympathy felt by all for the great sorrow 
of the royal family, and partly because of the deathlike stillness which 
prevailed under sunshine more brilliant than is commonly seen in Feb- 
ruary. The band which was present on the jetty was not less silent than 
were the bluejackets with reversed arms, for by the special request of 
Princess Beatrice they refrained from playing Chopin's "Funeral 
March," as had been originally intended. Then the minute guns began 
to sound from the Inflexible as the Alberta made her way towards Spit- 
head, a great crowd being collected on the ramparts to see her as she 
started. The Alberta was met by the Victoria and Albert, which escorted 
her to Cowes. As she was sighted at Spithead there came the sound of 
the answering minute guns, from the flagship of the Particular Service 
Squadron lying in the lower roads. 

The scene which followed was thus described by the special cor- 
respondent of the Times; — 



350 AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

"The progress of the mournful ceremony was watched from Osborne, 
so that those of the royal mourners who had not gone over to Ports- 
mouth knew precisely when to start. The Prince of (Wales, with the 
Duke of York and the Grand Duke of Hesse, was the first to arrive at 
Trinity Wharf, as to which it was ordained that it should be reserved 
absolutely for the royal family and their suites. The Prince of Wales, 
the Duke of York, and the Grand Duke of Hesse went out in a pinnace 
a mile or more to meet the incoming vessel. Very slowly in the brilliant 
sunshine and in the keen air the Alberta, accompanied by the Victoria 
and Albert, steamed between the lines of battleships and cruisers 
through water absolutely calm. The ships were 'manned,' the minute 
guns from the flagship thundered, and the echoes seemed to be directly 
returned from Osborne. 

"The Queen drove up to the wharf, and, alighting from her carriage, 
walked to the place of waiting. The Princess of Wales, with the Prin- 
cesses Victoria and Maud, followed the course of the Alberta in an open 
carriage on the East Cowes Esplanade. They were, of course, in mourn- 
ing; but those who deplore, not without reason, the vulgar exaggeration 
of the trappings and the display of signs of woe, will learn with interest 
that Her Royal Highness and her daughters wore no thick veils or elab- 
orate crepe, but simple black dresses and capes of black astrachan. The 
Duchess of Albany also followed the movements of the Alberta along 
the Esplanade in her carriage, but her carriage was closed. The guard 
of honor, which it was the privilege of the Scottish Rifles to supply, had 
been drawn up in position on the Trinity Wharf so as to face down the 
Medina river. The cutters from the various vessels, each in charge of a 
lieutenant, with men in straw hats and blue jumpers, were drawn up 
in double line all along the Medina river, marking on either side the 
passage which the Alberta was to take. The Victoria and Albert had 
passed out of sight, so far as those on the Trinity Wharf were concerned, 
to her moorngs in Cowes Roads, and the Alberta, which had been seen 
hitherto broadside on, turned and steered directly for the wharf. As 
she turned, the men in the cutters 'tossed' their oars. The effect was 
admirable. In slow and majestic fashion the Alberta steamed up the 
water-way thus marked, and the figures upon her grew gradually defin- 
ite, while under the awning astern it was possible to distinguish the 
coffin with its wreaths and Union Jack. On the starboard side beyond 
the coffin, and in the deepest mourning, were the widowed Princess and 



'AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 351 

Princess Christian. In front of the coffin were the Duke of Oonnaught 
and the Grand Duke of Hesse. 

"Then ensued, when {he vessel had been brought alongside the wharf, 
a ^cene of personal grief which it would be not less distasteful than 
improper to describe at length. Suffice it to say that the Queen herself 
walked on board the Alberta to the coffin and stayed there some time, 
and that the Princess of Wales and her daughters also drove up to the 
gates of the wharf and entered, while the Duchess of Albany followed 
later. The vessel having been placed in charge of a guard, the ladies 
of the royal family drove back to Osborne, the Queen going first, appar- 
ently with Princess Beatrice. Almost the last person to leave the vessel 
was the Prince of Wales." 

There were some departures from the strict letter of the regulations 
appointed for the solemn military display at the interment of the Prince. 
But among these deviations there was none which was not justified 
abundantly either by the royal rank of the Prince whom so many illus- 
trious persons assembled to honor at the last, or by the accompanying 
circumstances. Certainly the result — that is to say, the impression left 
upon the minds of those who saw the coffin carried from the Alberta to 
the gun-carriage, who watched its slow progress up the hill towards 
Whippingham Church, who saw it lifted from the gun-carriage and car- 
ried through the lych-gate of the church, while the pall-bearers, royal 
personages and representatives of royalty, stood in a semicircle and 
saluted — left nothing to be desired. Nothing could be more impressive, 
unless it were the scene within the church itself when, before the eyes 
of the Sovereign and Princess Beatrice and members of the royal family, 
and in the sight of representatives of many foreign monarchs, the body 
of the Prince who met his death in active service on behalf of his 
adopted country was laid to its rest. 

Little remains to be told. The chief mourners stood immediately 
behind the coffin — the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Battenberg, and 
the Duke of York to the right; Prince Albert of Prussia to the left. 
Behind them came a medley of illustrious personages in military great- 
coats and cloaks, blue for the most part, but relieved by the scarlet of 
the Life Guards and gray of the Garde du Corps and the Hesse Eegi- 
ment. Behind, filling up the whole of the central passage of the nave, 
came the naval and military officers, the first named to the right. 

The ceremony being over, the Queen and the Princesses left the 
building, though the Queen waited some time for the little Prince Alex- 



353 "AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 

ander of Battenberg, who had lingered at his father's tomb. The chief 
mourners and others also went up for a last look at the coffin, which con- 
tained all that remained of him whose memory they had assembled to 
honor. The chapel was touchingly beautified by the glory of flowers. 
The Queen's wreath of bay leaves was inscribed: "A mark of warmest 
regard and affection from his devoted mother, Victoria, K. I." The Duke 
and Duchess of Connaught's wreath was composed of scarlet and white 
camellias. A very beautiful tribute was that of the King of Portugal, 
who had recently traveled with Prince Henry to Balmoral, and had been 
the Queen's guest with him there. It was suspended above the coffin, 
a cushion of purple violets toj)ped by a coronet of white orchids and 
lilies of the valley. Close by w^as King Humbert's tribute, a white 
crown. The remaining wreaths were no less than about a thousand in 
number. 

Funeral services were also held in Berlin, Paris, and many other 
places abroad. That at Berlin was attended by the German Emperor 
and Empress, the Empress Frederick, Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and 
Goth a, and other illustrious personages. In many cities and towns of 
the United Kingdom funeral services were likewise held. Indeed, the 
services in memory of the deceased Prince may be said to have been 
almost universal at home and abroad. 

Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg, who thus perished untimely, 
was the third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse — ^who died in 1888 — 
and his morganatic wife, the beautiful Countess Julie Von Hauke, to 
whom was granted in 1858 the title of Princess of Battenberg, which 
her children inherited. He was born in 1858 and educated for the mili- 
tary service. Through his relationship to the Grand Dukes of Hesse, he 
was brought into close contact with the Court of Queen Victoria, and 
(as stated in a previous chapter) he was married to the Princess Beatrice 
in 1885. The title of Royal Highness was conferred upon him, and he 
was also made a Knight of the Garter, and a Member of the Privy Coun- 
cil, and received the rank of a colonel in the army. He was further 
appointed Captain-General and Governor of the Isle of Wight, and Gov- 
ernor of Carisbrooke Castle. In the island he was exceedingly popular, 
and also in London society. 

The Prince left four children — Prince Alexander, born in 1886; 
Princess Victoria Eug<^nie, born in 1887; Prince Leopold, born in 1889; 
and Prince Maurice, born in 1891. 

A happy and interesting event occurred towards the close of July, 



AFRICAN EVENTS TO THE FORE. 353 

1896, when Princess Maud of Wales was married to Prince Charles of 
Denmark in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace. The bride, the 
youngest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was .n her twenty- 
seyenth year. The bridegroom, who is the second son of the Crown 
Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark, was two years and four months 
younger than the bride, being in his twenty-fifth year. Being first 
cousins, they had seen a good deal of each other from childhood, and the 
union was averred to be one of genuine affection. 

The marriage was solemnized on the 22nd of July, and the weather 
was everything that could be desired. Six hundred wedding guests 
Avere invited, but not more than half of tlierii could be accommodated in 
the little chapel of Buckingham Palace, the overflow having to content 
themselves with watching the elaborate processions pass through the 
Palace. The chapel was beautifully decorated with flowers, and the gay 
dresses, bright uniforms, and flashing jewels of the company lent bril- 
liance to the scene. 

The 23rd of September, 1896, formed a memorable landmark in Brit- 
ish history. On that date Her Majesty the Queen had reigned more 
days than any other Sovereign of this realm. In view of this event, the 
Government were questioned in the House of Lords as to whether they 
would introduce a measure constituting that day a public holiday in 
honor of the auspicious and extraordinary occurrence. Lord Salisbury 
replied, that while fully sympathizing with the feeling which had 
prompted the question, he thought that if it should please Parliament 
to give effect to its loyal sentiments in the particular manner suggested, 
the birthday of Her Majesty next year would be a more appropriate 
occasion for the purpose than the 23rd of September, 1896. The Queen 
herself also approved this view, but it is not perhaps surprising that 
many of her loyal subjects looked forward to celebrating Her Majesty's 
iong reign in an unofficial manner on that noteworthy day, the 23rd of 
September. 

Ultimately the Secretary of State for the Home Department was com- 
manded by the Queen to intimate that, while she was much gratified to 
observe such general expressions of loyalty and affection towards her 
in regard to the fact that she would shortly have reigned for a longer 
period than any other British Sovereign, it was Her Majesty's wish' that, 
should she be spared to rule over her beloved people for such a period, 
any recognition or celebration of that event should be reserved until she 
bad actually completed a reign of sixty years. 




CHAPTER XV. 
LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

Troubles in India— Yictories in the Soudan— The Battle at Omdurman— The Spanish- America! 
War— The Asiatic Problem— AflEairs in South Africa— The Queen's Eightieth Birthday— 
The Boers Declare War— Progress of Hostilities— The Relief of Ladysmith— President 
Kriiger Leares the Transyaal— The Queen's Yisit to Ireland— The Close of Victoria's 
Beign. 

LL through the year 1897 there was trouble in India between 
the soldier police and the natives. The fighting was princi- 
pally on the northwest frontier, and there were many signal 
displays of bravery on both sides. The British losses were 
greater, while the insurrection lasted, than in any previous police war 
on the Indian frontier. The oflQcial report said: 

"From June 10 to October 28 the casualties were 247 killed, and 843 
wounded. This includes twenty-four British oflScers killed and fifty- 
two wounded. The number of British soldiers killed is thirty-four, and 
of wounded 151. Among the native ranks 177 were killed and 595 
wounded." 

The principal event of the year 1898 was the success of British arms 
in the Soudan. August found General Kitchener, with a force of 8,000 
British and 16,000 Egyptian troops, accompanied by a flotilla of gun- 
boats carrying guns firing Lyddite shells, within range of the massive 
walls with which the Khalifa had surrounded the headquarters of his 
power. One hundred thousand Dervishes, well equipped with artillery 
and arms of precision, were massed behind a mural rampart, rising in 
some places thirty feet in height, and with a varying thickness of from 
seven to thirteen feet. Savagery and civilization were face to face in 
the far Soudan, where the Mahdi and his successor had reigned supreme 
since Gordon died. 

September 2 was the date of .the decisive battle, and the Dervish 
Khalifat fell at Omdurman, after a scene of slaughter which, on one side 
at least, was as grim and terrible as anything in modern war. The 
British-Egyptian force, armed with repeating rifles and shell-fire, had 
no difficulty in annihilating an army of more than 100,000 men. The 
Khalifa attacked first in front, and then on the flank. In the first 

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LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 3ST 

cliarge he had to advance over ground that sloped gently downward for 
a mile and a half towards the British line. It was a mere headsman's 
block on which the Dervish army laid its neck. The long line of chant- 
ing, white-robed warriors breasted the crest of the ridge, and as it 
advanced it encountered a simoom of bullets, before which it quickly 
melted away, leaving the plain white with dead. 

A subsequent assault on the allied forces' right had at least a mo- 
mentary chance of success. For one horrible second it seemed as if 
the Egyptian troops would flinch. Two guns had been abandoned, and 
it was, as a British officer put it, "regular touch and go." But the 
First Brigade came up, three gunboats on the Nile got into range with 
their shells, and it was all over. After the battle, 10,800 Dervish 
corpses were counted on the field; and 16,000 were reported wounded. 
In the town 400 more were killed — chiefly in one street, where the Der- 
vishes, flghting mad, had to be cleared out by Maxims, and died literally 
in heaps — and there were 4,000 prisoners. 

The British loss was one officer killed, thirteen wounded; men killed, 
23; wounded, 99. Egyptian officers killed, 1; wounded, 8; men, twenty 
killed, 221 wounded. 

Mere valor counts still. But it is not a deciding factor. In this 
battle it might with truth be said, "Valor is cheap to-day." The 
Twenty-first Lancers, not more than 300 strong, rode through 2,000 
Dervishes, almost the only bit of hand-to-hand fighting of the old sort 
that took place in the conflict. If mere valor had decided it, then the 
Dervishes had been victors. Their foemen spoke of them with unani- 
mous acclaim as the bravest of the brave. The allied forces could not 
have been driven, no matter by what incentive of patriotism or disci- 
pline, to face the fire-blast into which the Sons of the Desert flung 
themselves with joy. They fought as befits men who were making the 
last and the supreme rally of savage humanity against the perfected 
machine of scientific valor. They fought and fell, and with them passed 
away probably forever from the earth the notion that mere heroic valor, 
backed by the mightiest thews and sinews, can any longer count as the 
deciding factor in the wars of the world. 

While the question of war or peace between the United States and 
Spain was still undecided, public opinion in England found decided 
expression in favor of the United States; and after the outbreak of 
hostilities the good-will of the people of Great Britain was ever more 



358 LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

and more plainly manifested. In all this there was, especially at first, 
a very candid confession that this feeling was not only on account of 
the "kinship" of the two nations, but also for the reason that the self 
interest of the British people for the stability of their empire and the 
security of their commerce would be better served by a triumph of 
American arms in the war. 

The general aspect of the Asiatic problem had at this time showed 
a decided change, chiefly as a result of the Russian eastward advance. 
The political center of gravity was shifted from the Pamirs and the 
valley of the Oxus to Manchuria and the Chinese coast. It was to 
Great Britain that the change was of the deepest portent, as it necessi- 
tated a radical departure from her former lines of action. Heretofore 
interested chiefly in her Indian empire, she strenuously sought to safe- 
guard its northern and northwestern frontier against a Russian 
onslaught by gradually pushing forward her military posts and court- 
ing the favor of native potentates, particularly the Ameer of Afghan- 
istan, whose territories might serve as buffer states to lessen the force 
of any collision. 

In doing so England had always assumed that the Caspian and the 
valley of the Oxus would be the limit of the Russian onward movement. 
But now, by a sudden, mighty move, Russia disclosed another line of 
advance and upset the political ideas of a century. From her safe po- 
sition as the first land power in Central Asia, Russia stepped to the less 
assured position of a naval power in the extreme East. While this 
gave her a double choice of attack on British interests, it also put her 
under a new necessity of defense. For the Indian government, its 
special significance was in the fact that the rivalry of England and 
Russia in Asia was now revealed, not as a question of Indian, but of 
Imperial interest; as a burden not to be borne alone, as heretofore, by 
the Indian taxpayer, but by the united sea and land forces of the 
British Empire. 

In South Africa affairs were reaching a critical point. At Johannes- 
burg, on December 24, 1898, a mass meeting of Uitlanders was held, for 
the purpose of agreeing upon a petition to Queen Victoria, praying for 
protection from the Boer police. The object of the meeting was frus- 
trated by the presence in the hall of bands of armed Boers. They 
occupied the hall an hour before the time set for the meeting, and 
from the galleries threw down boxes, chairs, and tables upon the 



LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 359 

assembled Uitlanders. The whole interior of the place was wrecked 
in the melee, but the police were passive spectators. Many Uitlanders 
were injured. Another public meeting of Uitlanders was called for 
January 13, 1899, to protest against the arrest of the officers of the pre- 
vious meeting on the charge of violating the Public Meetings Act, and 
to approve the petition to the Queen. An enormous crow<i was present 
at the meeting, the majority being Boers and other Afrikanders. When 
the secretary began to read the petition, the crowd made such noisy 
demonstrations of hostility that not a word of the petition was heard: 
the meeting became a free fight, chairs and benches being broken up 
and used as weapons. 

The grievances of the Uitlanders were even more serious at this 
time than they were before the Jameson raid. The taxation was 
exceedingly burdensome. The republic had lately been engaged in a 
little war with a native tribe, the Upefu, which cost perhaps |200,000; 
that was made the pretext for the imposition of a war tax, which, if 
collected, would have amounted to |2,000,000. The tax on mining 
profits was 5 per cent; and there was also a heavy poll tax. The people 
of Johannesburg were denied the right of public assemblage, and were 
compelled to ask the police for a permit to hold a meeting. The Boers, 
by such narrow policies, discouraged the hope of South African con- 
federation, alienated their fellow Afrikanders in Cape Colony, and 
eventually brought on the war which cost both sides thousands of lives 
and millions of dollars. 

Early in April a petition signed by 21,000 British subjects was placed 
in the hands of the British agent at Pretoria, for transmission to Sir 
Alfred Milner, governor of Cape Colony, and British High Commis- 
sioner \or South Africa, "For such action as His Excellency might think 
necessary." The claim of the Uitlanders was that, though they com- 
posed seventy-three per cent of the white population, and paid nearly 
alt the taxes and possessed nearly all the wealth and intelligence, they 
were deprived of all substantial share in political rights and privileges 
by the remaining twenty-seven per cent. 

The eightieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's birthday was cele- 
brated May 24 with every token of loving affection on the part of her 
subjects, who welcomed the opportunity to emphasize their devotion 
to her as a loving, sympathetic, noble woman, as, on the occasion of 
the Diamond Jubilee, they had eagerly expressed their reverent homage 



360 LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

and admiration for her as their Queen. The Queen marked the occasion 
characteristically by presiding in person at the laying of the comer- 
stone of the Victoria and Albert museum which completed the series 
of buildings begun by herself in the year of her coronation, 1837. 

The disputes between the subjects of Great Britain and the South 
African Kepublic grew more bitter, and developed an increasing ten- 
dency towards a resort to force. Neither Queen Victoria nor President 
Kruger had a desire for war. Each professed the hope that the other 
would recognize the evident right in time to prevent the misery and 
crime of war. 

On October 9 the Boer Government sent to the British Government 
an ultimatum which revealed the aspiration of the Transvaal to claim 
Great Britain's place as the paramount power in South Africa. In 
effect it was a declaration of war. Great Britain replied, on October 
10, that the demands made were such as could not be discussed, and 
instructed the British agent to apply for his passport. On the 11th 
the proclamation of war was issued at the Boer capital, and the Orange 
Free State openly took its place as ally of the South African Republic, 
appointing Pietrus Jacobus Joubert commandant-general of its forces. 
This was an unwelcome, jet in one view an acceptable, incident to the 
British, since it relieved them from all obligations of neutrality regard- 
ing its territory, which might be used for approach to the Transvaal. 

On the same day the Boers occupied Laings Nek and Ingogo Heights, 
and the British troops in Cape Colony were hurried towaTds the west- 
ern border. On the next day, October 12, Free State forces invaded 
British territory in Cape Colony and entered Natal. The Tt*ansvaal 
o-overnment issued a manifesto calling on all Afrikanders (South Afri- 
can natives of European descent) throughout South Africa to rise 
against the British. 

The British force in South Africa at the middle of September was 
estimated at 11,000. The British force in Natal at the beginning of 
the war, October 11, is said to have numbered somewhat more than 
13,000, of which about 5,000 had been brought from India within ten 
days. Hundreds of miles away, in Cape Colony, were about 5,000 
more. Against this total of about 23,000 the total opposed was esti- 
mated at about 60,000. 

The Boers had great advantages besides their superiority in num- 
bers* they had a very large proportion of mounted riflemen riding the 



LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 361 

tougli little ponies of the country, which will travel forty miles a day 
and live on the grass that grows everywhere, while the British force 
was lamentably deficient in cavalry at the time of the outbreak of the 
war. The Boers also had an equipment of artillery and rapid-fire guns 
of the latest and most improved patterns. 

At the beginning of the war. General Sir George White, formerly 
commander-in-chief in India, who had arrived at Durban, took com- 
mand. Two plans of campaign were considered by him. He might 
either attempt to check the Boer invasion of northern Natal by holding 
Dundee and Ladysmith; or he might abandon these, hold the defensible 
line ©f the Tugela river, and await attack in positions chosen for their 
strategical value. The latter was preferable on merely military prin- 
ciples, but was rejected on the representations of the chief officials of 
Natal, who questioned the loyalty of the people of northern Natal if 
it were abandoned to the Boers. This decision influenced the whole 
campaign. General White's stores w^ere accumulated in large amount 
at Ladysmith, while General Sir William Penn Symons occupied Dun- 
dee and Glencoe Junction, fighting the first battle of the war, October 
20, at Ttilana Hill (or Glencoe), attacking about 4,000 of the Boer forces 
under Lucas Meyer and capturing the position with a success brilliant 
but dearly bought. General Symons was mortally wounded, and the 
British losses numbered forty-three killed and nearly 200 wounded. 
The next day General French fought a fierce battle at Elandslaagte, 
attacking and defeating a large force under General Kock, second in 
command of the Boers, who was mortally wounded. The Boer loss 
was more than 100 killed, 300 prisoners. 

This battle had its chief result in facilitating the British retreat from 
Dundee, which was soon found inevitable, as a considerable Boer force 
had taken up a strong position near the road to Ladysmith. That 
retreat was safely accomplished under General Yule, aided by the 
activity of White's army at Elandslaagte. White's and Yule's forces 
effected a junction at Ladysmith, October 25. Before that town had 
been surrounded and isolated by the Boer General Joubert, a week later, 
uaval guns from the cruiser Terrible, at Durban, had been landed and 
set up. The naval brigade rendered great service with these guns, 
which were able to cope with the heavy guns of the Boers, some of 
which send a 100-pound shell five or six miles. 

Until nearly the end of October the small British forces at Lady- 



362 LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

smith, at Kimbeiiey, where fighting had begun October 14, and at Mafe- 
king, whose siege had begun October 15, maintained their positions, 
and held in check the greatly superior bodies of the enemy. On October 
24 a total of 988 Boer prisoners had been brought in. Then came 
serious reverses. At Dundee a squadron of Hussars in pursuit of some 
retreating Boers found themselves hopelessly entrapped and were taken 
prisoners. At Ladysmith, on October 30, a disaster of the same kind, 
but far more serious, befell the troops under General White. 

One of the active operations which broke the monotony of the inter- 
mittent bombardment of Ladysmith was a strong attack by the Boers 
on November 9. Early in the morning, under cover of artillery fire 
from all their positions, they started, creeping from cover to cover, to 
ascend the ridges overlooking the town. The garrison drove them 
back with musketry fire and the artillery wrought havoc on their retir- 
ing forces. 

The British met an annoying loss, November 16, in the ambuscade 
and destruction of an armored train, which in default of cavalry was 
reconnoitering near Estcourt. The Boers opened fire from concealed 
guns commanding the exact spot where they had secretly tampered with 
the track. The British responded, but were greatly outnumbered, and 
surrender was unavoidable. 

On November 23, General Hildyard attacked the Boers south, of the 
Tugela river, and cleared that region. On the same day General 
Methuen struck the first important offensive blow of the British side 
of the campaign. At Belmont his force attacked the Boers, strongly 
intrenched, at a height of hundreds of feet, captured their position, and 
inflicted a heavy loss. Two days later, at Gras Pan (or Enslin), on 
the railway to Kimberley, the same army, in the first battle on non- 
British territory, defeated 3,000 Boers strongly intrenched, with ma- 
chine guns, on a range of heights. 

On November 28 General Methuen's third battle was fought with 
about 11,000 of General Anthony Cronje's troops at Modder river, 
twenty-five miles from Kimberley — a ten hours' fight, without water or 
food, under a burning sun; described in the British commander's dis- 
patch as "one of the hardest and most trying fights in the annals of 
the British army." 

Early in December the garrison at Ladysmith showed the never fail- 



LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 363 

ing bravery of British troops by two brilliantly successful night sorties, 
capturing or destroying heavy guns of the besiegers. 

The week beginning December 10 was one of the blackest weeks in 
British military history for a generation. On that day, General Gat- 
acre, operating in the north of Cape Colony with a force of 7,000, met 
a "serious reverse in attack that morning on Stormberg," having, as 
his dispatch continued, been "misled to enemy's position by guides, 
and found impracticable ground." He marched out with 4,000 men 
from Molteno at 9:30 at night to surprise the Boers at Stormberg at 
dawn, but underestimated his distance, and at daybreak found himself 
with an exhausted force suddenly under fire from the enemy posted 
on "the top of an unscalable hill." One of his guns was overturned and 
lost in quicksands. His men tried bravely for three hours to make a 
fight, but were forced to retreat, leaving more than 500 cut off from the 
main body and made prisoners by the Boers. 

On December 12, General Methuen's failure in an attack on General 
Cronje's position at Magersfontein was a reverse more serious than any 
that had preceded. The Highland brigade, which led the attack, was 
compelled to retire upon encountering the heavy fire of the Boers, who 
were concealed in the trenches. Many oflflcers and men were killed, 
including General Wanchope. The British made an orderly withdrawal 
to Modder river. The Highlanders lost nearly fifty officers and 650 men, 
and the total British casualties in all regiments were about 1,000. 

AThen Sir Redvers Buller assumed command of the forces operating 
on the Tugela river for the relief of Ladysmith, it was hoped that R suc- 
cessful campaign would be immediately inaugurated. At first there 
were reports of skirmishes in which the British were the victors, and 
these were soon followed by rumors that Ladysmith had been relieved. 
But it was soon learned that the most serious reverse of all had befallen 
the British arms. General Buller, having found the Boer position 
opposite Colenso impregnable, was repulsed in an attack at that point 
with a loss of 1,100 men killed, wounded or prisoners. The attempt had 
been made to force a passage of the river at the same time that a part 
of the troops tried to keep off the flank attack of the enemy. Despite 
the great gallantry shown by the attacking force, the movement failed. 
The guns were abandoned, and one was ruined by shell fire. This loss 
made the reneAval of the attack impossible. The general's dispatch 



364 LAST Y^EARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

reporting the battle concluded with the words, "We have retired to our 
camp at Chieveley." 

Little of importance transpired during the month of January, 1900. 
General Buller made a second attempt to relieve Ladysmith, where the 
Boers were making a series of unsuccessful attacks, but without suc- 
cess, and the failure resulted in heavy losses to the British forces. 

February brought better news to British sympathizers. Kimberley 
and Ladysmith, both in sore straits, were relieved at the eleventh hour. 
The Boers had brought up one of their powerful Creusot cannon to 
bombard Kimberley. It threw 100-pound shells into the town, com- 
pelling the women and children to take refuge in the diamond mines, 
1,200 feet below the surface. General French rode hard to the relief 
of the beleaguered town, and his arrival was hailed with intense enthu- 
siasm. As soon as General Cronje saw that the siege of Kimberley had 
been raised, and that the British force was sufficient to envelop him 
at Magersfontein, he decided to evacuate his position. By a masterly 
march he succeeded in reaching Paardenburg, with all his wagons and 
men. There, with a force of 5,000, he made his last stand. He impro- 
vised a stronghold in the bed of the river, where for several days his 
army was subjected to a tremendous bombardment by some sixty pieces 
of artillery, including the howitzers and naval guns. At last, on the 
eve of Majuba day, the Canadian contingent of the British forces 
entrenched themselves within 100 yards of the Boer's position. At day- 
break, finding himself without food, and practically without artillery, 
Cronje surrendered unconditionally after a defense which extorted the 
admiration of the world. 

Cronje's surrender was the first decisive victory of the war. It was 
rapidly followed by another success, in the shape of the raising of the 
siege of Ladysmith. The Boers, weakened by the withdrawal of many 
of their men, were no longer able to offer successful resistance to the 
British advance, and, finding themselves between two forces, one 
of 30,000 and the other of 10,000 soldiers, they raised the siege and 
departed. 

When General Buller entered Ladysmith he found the garrison 
reduced to a half a pound of meal a day supplemented by rations of 
horse and mule flesh. All medical comforts, and even medical necessi- 
ties, had been used up. Of the 12,000 soldiers cooped up under the 
Boer guns, 8,000 had been through the hospital. The total number of 



LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 365 

casualties during the siege were reported as follows: Killed or died of 
wounds, 24 officers and 235 men; of disease, 6 officers, 340 men; wounded, 
70 officers and 520 men, exclusive of white civilians. 

After capturing General Cronje, Lord Roberts fought and won in an 
action with the Boers who were resisting his advance a short distance 
from Bloemfontein. He then entered the capital of the Orange Free 
State without opposition, where he was received by the English and 
the English sympathizers with every demonstration of enthusiasm. 

On April 2, five companies of British troops, numbering about 600 
men, were surrounded by a detachment of Boers at Eeddersburg, about 
forty miles south of Bloemfontein, and taken prisoners. 

Bloemfontein was occupied on March 13, but it was not until the 
beginning of May that Lord Roberts started his army for Johannesburg 
and Pretoria. By a series of rapid and well-executed marches, Johan- 
nesburg was reached on the last day of May, and the city was surren- 
dered by the Boers. President Kruger evacuated Pretoria and with- 
drew to the Lydenburg district. 

The relief of the beleaguered village of Mafeking supplied an episode 
which excited interest throughout the world. Colonel — afterwards 
Major-General — Baden-Powell, with a force of 975 men, held the fron- 
tier village of Mafeking for seven months against all the forces which 
the Boers could send against him. The position of Mafeking itself 
was of no particular importance. If it had been abandoned when war 
broke out it could have made no difference in the ultimate issue of the 
campaign; but, like the Balaklava Charge, its defense was magnificent. 
The endurance of the garrison and the genius of its commander struck 
the imagination of the world, and when on the very day fixed by Lord 
Roberts months before, the relieving column from Kimberley. brushed 
aside the Boers and relieved the village, it was a signal for rejoicings in 
Great Britain on a scale without precedent since the Empire was illu- 
minated to celebrate the victory of Waterloo. 

On June 13 the complete evacuation of Natal by the Boers, with 
the advance of General Buller's force into the southeastern Transvaal, 
and the restoration of Lord Roberts' railway and telegraphic communi- 
cation through the Orange River Colony, were officially reported. 

On July 10 the War Office issued a casualty list, showing that the 
total casualties as a result of the war to July 7 were 48,188 officers and 
men. 



m LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

On July 11 Colonel Malion, reinforced by General French's brigade; 
toot with slight loss all the Boer positions in the vicinity of Rietfon- 
tein. On the same day, a sharp Boer attack at Kriigersdorp, eighteen 
miles north of Johannesburg, was repulsed ; but at Nitral's Nek, twenty 
miles west of Pretoria, the Boers had a decided success against the 
British force, weakened by withdrawals to other points, capturing some 
guns, the larger part of a cavalry squadron, and one company of 
infantry. 

The threatening conditions which prevailed in China at this time 
seemed to give the Boers hope of British disaster or weakness, and to 
have stirred them to renewed activity. President Kruger was reported 
as refusing all suggestions of surrender; and a Boer ofiflcial in the United 
States reported "encouraging news from the two republics," whose 
forces were adequate "to hold Lord Roberts at bay for the next two 
years, or longer." 

On July 23-25 Hunter's command was in heavy light with Boers 
strongly intrenched in the hills south of Bethlehem. With Generals 
Clements, Bundle, and Macdonald, he captured three approaches, and 
blocked the one remaining outlet of their natural stronghold. Prinsloo, 
on July 29, asked, under a flag of truce, a four days' armistice for peace 
negotiations, to which Hunter replied that he could accept no terms 
except unconditional surrender. Later dispatches brought to the War 
Ofiflce the news of Prinsloo's surrender, with 5,000 Boers, and by AugTist 
9 the additional captures amounted to 4,140 men, 4,000 horses, three 
gTins, and gTeat quantities of ammunition. 

On August 11 General Christian De Wet wa^ reported in full flight 
before Kitchener's and Methuen's forces, while his road southward was 
barred by Smith-Dorrien's army. His escape from this besetment was 
not expected; but was reported on August 18, and Was praised by 
military critics as showing De Wet to be a genius in cavalry leadership. 

On August 23 Lord Roberts was again at the front with three col- 
umns, pushing back Botha's army. Two regiments of General Buller's 
men lost about 100 men on the first day in a trap set by the Boers. The 
losses of Buller's column in battle on the 27th were light, as were also 
those of French and Pole-Carew, while those of the Boers were heavy. 
On the 28th the British occupied Machadodorp, Kruger's latest capital, 
from which the Boers retreated precipitately. On August 30 Lord 



LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 367 

Roberts reported that Buller's mounted troops had reached Nooit 
Gedacht, where they had released 1,800 British prisoners. 

On September 1 was issued, under the Queen's warrant of June 4, 
a proclamation by Field-Marshal Eoberts declaring the Transvaal 
annexed to the British Empire as the Vaal River Colony. The effect 
of this was to put in the position of rebels those who with arms resisted 
British authority. 

Early in September General Buller pushed on among the mountains 
of the northeast towards Lydenburg, where the Boers under Louis 
Botha had stored an immense amount of supplies in a position of great 
natural strength. On September 6 the place fell into British posses- 
sion without loss. 

Besides the losses noticed above, and the withdrawal of their com- 
mander-in-chief, Botha, by reason of sickness, the Boers lost, on Sep- 
tember 12, by departure from the country and by turning the presidency 
over to other hands, their President, who had been the inspiring and 
the guiding force of the whole movement for an independent South 
African nationality. Mr. Kruger, with other officials, retiring as the 
British advanced, made a short stay at Komatipoort, on the Portu- 
guese frontier; then sought safety by crossing the border and making 
his way about fifty miles eastward to Lourenco Marques, whence his 
course was open to Holland by sea. 

By the middle of November it had become evident that, though war 
technically no longer existed in South Africa, peace was still remote. 
Soldiers were returning to England; but men were constantly starting 
to fill their places, or to be organized into General Baden-Powell's police 
force, from which much was expected. The Boers, though having occa- 
sional small successes, were losing men and stores almost daily. Having 
no longer any large armies, they were not encumbered with transport 
trains; and their roving bands could be instantly and constantly on 
the move for either attack or escape. They fought fiercely and fled 
s-^^iftly, and showed a courage which, being desperate, was spoken of 
in Europe as born of despair, but would probably be better described as 
inspirited by hope that Europe would intervene in their behalf. 

Turning from war's alarms to happier affairs, and at the same time 
to matters which have a more direct connection with the personal life 
of the Queen, the visit of Her Majesty to Ireland, in April, 1900, was 
an event long to be remembered. It had been more than a half a 



368 LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

century since the Queen's yacht steamed into Cork harbor, when the 
country was just beginning to recover from the shock of famine, but 
when, even in those days of darkness and depression, the touch of royal 
kindness met with a prompt and warm response from the people. Re- 
turning after these fifty years of absence, the Queen was welcomed with 
all the sentiment of a nation that has been true even to unworthy rulers, 
and that, in spite of two generations of political agitation, still had a 
sense of reverence for the kingly office, strengthened all the more when 
it was associated with the dignity of age and the high example of a 
stainless family life. 

Her Majesty left Windsor the night of Monday, April 2, accompanied 
by Princess Christian and Princess Henry of Battenberg, traveling by 
special train to Holyhead, en route to Dublin. Holyhead was reached 
shortly after nine o'clock Tuesday morning. The Queen walked from 
the train to the deck of the royal yacht, which left Holyhead at an 
earlier hour than had been intended in consequence of apprehensions of 
rough weather in the channel, and entered Kingstown harbor at two 
o'clock P. M., escorted by two cruisers. Her Majesty was received with 
a royal salute of twenty-one guns by the Channel squadron. Every 
vessel in the harbor made a great display of bunting, and Kingstown 
itself was profusely decorated. 

The Lord Lieutenant and the Duke of Connaught arrived from Dub- 
lin in the course of the afternoon and went on board the royal yacht 
to welcome the Queen, who remained on board for the night. In the 
evening there were illuminations in the town and harbor, and bonfires 
were lighted on the surrounding hills. 

The Queen landed at Kingstown from the royal yacht at 11:30 
Wednesday morning, being received with the utmost enthusiasm by a 
great crowd of spectators. A loyal address of welcome was received by 
Her Majesty from the urban district council of Kingstown, and in reply 
the Queen thanked them for their address and for their warm welcome. 

A procession was then formed, and the royal visitors proceeded, by 
a route which was profusely decorated and lined throughout by cheer- 
ing crowds, to Dublin. At the city boundary the Lord Mayor and 
municipality awaited the Queen's arrival, and an enormous assemblage 
of people had gathered about the spot. Admission to the city for Her 
Majesty having been formally demanded by Athlone Pursuivant of 
Arms, the Lord Mayor tendered a most hearty welcome, and, the gates 



L'AST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 369 

having been thrown open, the keys of the city and the civic sword ^vwre 
presented to Her Majesty and returned by her to the Lord Mayor. 
After the address of welcome and the Queen's reply had been read, the 
procession continued its way through Dublin amid continued demon- 
strations of welcome to the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park. 

The Queen on Saturday, after a morning drive in the grounds of 
the Viceregal Lodge, proceeded in an open carriage, accompanied by 
Princess Christian and Princess Henry of Battenberg, to a part of 
Phoenix Park where there had assembled some 52,000 children from 
all parts of Ireland as well as from Dublin. They were marshaled in 
two great bodies on either side of the main road of the park from the 
gates of the Viceregal Lodge to the statue of Lord Gough, and behind 
them were gathered immense crowds of adult spectators. The royal 
carriage drove slowly down the line to a dais in the center, where stood 
the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress of Dublin and Lady Arnott, with 
their children, and the members of the executive committee who had 
charge of the arrangements of the demonstration. There a magnificent 
bouquet was presented to the Queen on behalf of the children of Ireland 
by Lady Arnott's daughters and the young son of the Lord Mayor, and 
very cordially received and acknowledged by Her Majesty, whose car- 
riage then continued its course to the end of the line of children, and, 
turning around the Gough statue, returned to the Viceregal Lodge. 

The Queen left Ireland Thursday, April 26, after a visit in Dublin 
of more than three weeks' duration. Accompanied by Princess Chris- 
tian and Princess Henry of Battenberg, Her Majesty drove through 
Phoenix Park and the outskirts of Dublin to Kingsbridge station, where 
she took a cordial farewell of the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress, 
assuring them that she was very sorry indeed to leave Ireland, where 
she had had a very pleasant time. A special train conveyed the royal 
party to Kingstown, where they at once went on board the yacht 
Victoria and Albert, which left for Holyhead, escorted by the Channel 
squadron, at two o'clock. Throughout the whole route, and especially 
when driving through Phoenix Park and on embarking at Kingstown, 
the Queen was enthusiastically greeted by immense gatherings of 
people. 

The royal yacht arrived at Holyhead at half past six Thursday 
evening, and Her Majesty passed the night on board. The following 
day she proceeded to Windsor by the royal train, where she received 



370 LAST YEARS OF VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

a cordial greeting from the people of the royal borough, the streets of 
which had been elaboi^ately decorated in honor of her homecoming. 

The closing years of Victoria's reign presented few noteworthy inci- 
dents except in relation to the Transvaal war. She was undoubtedly 
strongly opposed to making war on the South African Eepublic and 
the Orange Free State- She felt that in the nature of things she could 
not hope for many years more, and it was her earnest desire that she 
might end her reign and her days at a time of national peace. But 
when, against her will, the war was begun, she felt in duty bound to 
support it with the full weight of her influence and authority. When, 
after her return from the journey to Ireland, she learned the full extent 
of the British losses, and the impossibility of stopping them for months 
to come, she sank under the blow, and never rallied again. While she 
never questioned the justice of the attempts to subjugate the South 
African Eepublics, the fact remains that the policy was one which did 
not meet with her approval. 




CHAPTER XVI. 
THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

News of the Queen's Dlness Startles the Civilized World— The Royal Family Called to 
Osborne House — Arrival of the Emperor of Germany— Death of the Queen— Eulogies of 
the Press— Panegyrics of the Public— President McKinley Cables Condolences to the 
King— Deep Grief in Canada— Speeches in Parliament— Loyalty Pledged the King— Lord 
Salisbury's Tribute. 

N Friday, January 18, 1901, the news that Queen Victoria was 
dangerously ill startled the civilized world. This information 
was given in an official announcement, which read as fol- 
lows: 

"The Queen has not lately been in her usual health and is unable for 
the present to take her customary drives. 

"The Queen during the last year has had a great strain upon her 
powers, which has rather told upon her nervous system. It has there- 
fore been thought advisable by Her Majesty's physicians that Her 
Majesty should be kept perfectly quiet in the house and should abstain 
for the present from transacting business." 

There had been rumors for several days that Her Majesty was 
slightly indisposed, but the intimation of serious illness produced an 
indescribable shock. In London the information reached the principal 
clubs before it began to blaze upon the bulletin boards of the half-penny 
papers. Great politicians forgot all their engagements in their feverish 
and panicky quest for authoritative information. The telephone bells 
in Osborne House, Buckingham Palace and Marlborough House jingled 
incessantly, and anxious voices inquired in vain: 

"Is the Queen really ill?" 

The same answer came monotonously back: 

"We have no information." 

On the throngs in the streets the ominous news fell like a funeral 
knell. They studied the newspaper bulletins and sighed. They could 
be heard muttering: "Perhaps it is not true." 

The common people viewed the announcement of Victoria's illness 

171 



1372 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

as they might have viewed the notice of an overwhelming disaster to 
the British arms. 

Meanwhile, in her palace at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, Her Majesty 
lay dying. As soon as the physicians realized that her condition was 
hopeless, the members of the royal family, both in England and on the 
Continent, were hastily summoned, and special trains and steamers car- 
ried them to the bedside of the dying monarch. 

The bulletins from Osborne House on Saturday were few, and far 
from encouraging. In the morning it was announced: 

"The Queen passed a good night and is much better this morning." 

At noon the following, signed by Dr. A. Douglas Powell and Dr. 
James Reed, was issued: 

"The Queen is suffering from great physical prostration, accom- 
panied by symptoms which cause anxiety." 

At 6 o'clock that evening the same physicians issued the following: 

"The Queen's strength has been fairly maintained throughout the 
day and there are indications of a slight improvement in the symptoms 
this evening." 

A bulletin, issued at 2:10 Sunday morning, said: 

"The Queen's condition is unchanged." 

Sunday at Osborne, hedged around with intense secrecy, began with 
a touching scene. Amid the bright sunshine, in marked contrast to the 
gloomy skies of Saturday, there drove out from the palace grounds a 
carriage containing wreaths for the tomb of Prince Henry of Batten - 
berg in the little church at Whippingham, about ten minutes' ride from 
the royal residence. Then followed carriages containing the Princess of 
Wales, the Princess of Battenberg, Princess Louise and others, all 
dressed in the deepest black. The face of the Princess of Wales showed 
signs of the anxiety she was undergoing. 

The annual memorial service for Prince Henry, always a sad occa- 
sion, was more than usually sorrowful, for the shadow of a still greater 
bereavement was uppermost in all minds. The Princess of Wales and 
the Princess of Battenberg sobbed bitterly, and there was scarcely one 
of those royal heads bent in prayer that did not shake with a grief which 
could not be suppressed. 

The departure of the Prince of Wales for London, shortly after 12 
o'clock, to meet Emperor William was quietly accomplished. The 
Queen had been informed of the Kaiser's coming and had signified her 




TENANTS AT OSBORNE PAYING THEIR LAST TRIBUTE TO THE 

ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD. 




ARRIVAL OF THE GERMAN CROWN PRINCE AT PORTSMOXJTH: 

HIS MEETING WITH THE KAISER. 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 375 

desire that the Prince should go to meet him. Rather against his will, 
the man who for the moment was practically the King of England 
obeyed his mother's wishes. It was rumored that the Queen wanted the 
Emperor to postpone his visit to Osborne House, as she did not wish 
to receive him in her present condition. Apparently in her lucid mo- 
ments, she believed that she would be able to conquer the dread disease 
which had fastened itself upon her. 

Inquiries of importance all came by telegraph and these were legion. 
Hundreds of people, all sorts and conditions of men, clergymen pre- 
dominating, flooded Cowes with telegrams asking for the latest news. 
A swarm of country people, among whom correspondents from all quar- 
ters of the globe mingled, ceaselessly converged toward the lodge gates. 
Their inquiries generally took the form of a timid "How is she?" 
addressed to the policeman who barred all comers; and an inquirer who 
had been answered would be immediately surrounded by others less 
bold who sought the news. 

When night fell the countryside became deserted, save for the news- 
paper watchers who waited wearily in the lodge. 

"Victoria is alive, but just alive." 

Such was the hope-dispelling message from Osborne House as the 
chimes in the moss-hidden chapel belfry rang out another day of heart- 
rending national anxiety. The late bulletins promised that Her Majesty 
might win a good night's rest. They assured her royal kindred and 
her sorrowing people that her wealth of well-seasoned years were tell- 
ing in her favor. But between the lines of the doctors' words were signs 
in plenty that the sands of life were running out. 

Cowes took unwillingly to the idea that the good Queen's end was 
near. The village knew her always in the heyday of vigorous health, 
and it made a brave effort to persuade itself that she would yet be 
spared. But this confidence was that born of desperation and despair. 

All the evening the townspeople, old and young, trudged through 
the woods to the gates of Osborne, seizing on rumors of any sort with 
indiscriminate avidity. There was not a home on the whole Isle of 
Wight in which the Queen's illness was not a personal sorrow and 
blight to the household. 

To the royal family which was clustered near the Queen's bedside 
the day was wearing and trying. The women members of the house- 
hold had their fortitude strengthened during the forenoon by the arrival 



376 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

of Emperor William of Germany, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught 
and the Duke of York, as well as by the return of the Prince of Wales. 

The royal yacht bearing the Prince of Wales, Emperor William, and 
their party entered Cowes harbor at 11 :05 a. m., Monday. The figure of 
Emperor William was easily recognized standing by the pilot-house as 
the yacht approached the pier. He remained talking with the Duke of 
York till the pier was reached. Then the Prince of Wales came from the 
salon and joined the others. The whole party, including the Duke and 
Duchess of Connaught, landed within a moment after the Alberta 
docked. The royal carriages — open landaus — awaited them. Emperor 
William, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Connaught 
quickly entered the first carriage and drove off toward Osborne House. 

Emperor William acknowledged the silent salutes of the crowd, a 
score or so of the people raising their hats. He was dressed in a plain 
black suit and wore a derby hat. He appeared to be far less weary and 
anxious than his grim-visaged uncle who sat opposite to him. There 
was intense relief at Osborne House, upon the arrival of the imperial 
and royal party, for several times during the course of the morning it 
was feared the Queen would not live to hear of the Prince of Wales' 
return. 

Shortly after noon the Kaiser entered the chamber of the Queen. 
Powerful restoratives had been administered to Her Majesty, and she 
was quite able to recognize hmi. The details of that interview, natu- 
rally, have been properly withheld. The interview lasted only a few 
minutes. 

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, induced jointly by the desire for open 
air and for relaxation in the brilliant sunshine, the Prince of Wales, 
accompanied by the Kaiser, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and 
the Duke of York, started out for an hour's walk. The Prince of Wales 
strode along several feet in advance of the party. Alone, with bowed 
head, he looked listless and almost on the verge of physical collapse, 
only giving a token of animation when passers-by attracted his atten- 
tion with reverential salutes. A few hundred yards from the Osborne 
gates the party met the six-year-old golden-haired Princess Elizabeth of 
Hesse walking with her nurse. The Prince leaned over and kissed the 
child. After returning from their walk none of the grief-stricken 
watchers left the palace again, but remained in call of the Queen's 
bedchamber or actually at her bedside until the next day, when she 
passed away in death. 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. ZTi 

The fateful news that Victoria, R. I., by the grace of God Queen of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, defender of the faith, 
and Empress of India, was no more came to a waiting world on Tues- 
day, January 22, in the following simple bulletin : 

"Her Majesty the Queen breathed her last at 6:30 o'clock, surrounded 
by her children and grandchildren." 

It was when the cold, gray day dawned that the renewed decline of 
the vital powers warned the watchers that their struggle against nature 
could not much longer succeed. The Queen was then completely uncon- 
scious, and from moment to moment the exhaustion of the small remain- 
ing store of vitality became perceptibly greater. Shortly after 9 o'clock 
the doctors sent summohses to all the members of the family and also 
to the rector of the royal chapel. 

Before they arrived there took place that prudential phenomenon 
which nature sometimes grants to the dying. The Queen became con- 
scious and free of all suffering. It was under these circumstances of 
precious memory that the last interviews with her children and grand- 
children took place. The world will never know, and has no right to 
know what took place. The Queen received them singly, and by two 
and three within the next four hours. She recognized most of them. 
Then the curtain of unconsciousness fell for the last time, and the phy- 
sicians made known that the Queen was dying. All assembled and 
remained until the very end. It was so quiet and peaceful and gentle 
that it was difficult to realize that the shadow of death was present. 

Nothing more can be said of those last moments. Even the dazzling 
light which beats upon a throne did not penetrate that chamber^ and 
the tender memories of the last hours belong to those who mourn Vic- 
toria, not as a Queen, but in the dearer relationship of family. 

None of the royal family left the grounds of Osborne House on Fri- 
day, and the King had no other occupation than performing reverent of- 
fices for the dead. About 10 o'clock in the morning the shell was brought 
into the bedroom, where were waiting King Edward, Emperor William, 
the Duke of Connaught, Sir James Reid, and the royal ladies. The lat- 
ter having retired. Sir James Reid, with reverent hands, assisted by 
three trusted household servants, and in the presence of the King, the 
Emperor, and the Duke, removed the body from the bed to the coffin. 

In death it was lovelier than in the closing days of life. Not a trace 
of the ravages of disease was visible. The servants having retired, 



378 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

Queen Alexandra, tlie Princesses, and the children were recalled, and, 
with lingering steps and stifled sobs, they passed slowly before the 
white-robed and peaceful figure. At the foot, never moving, stood the 
King, and when the mourning crowd had passed there remained only 
the son and grandson of the dead. 

Emperor William wept even more bitterly than the royal ladies. 
Finally, he also retired, and the King was left alone. Sir James Reid, 
beckoning to the servants, who were holding the coffin lid, asked the 
King's instructions. 

For a few minutes the King stood speechless, stricken with emotion 
at the last farewell. Then he said quickly, "Close it finally. It must not 
be opened again." 

Thus the remains of England's greatest ruler were forever closed 
from human view. Reverently the coffin was borne into the dining- 
room. Officers and men from the royal yachts took their stands around 
the coffin, over which the King, Queen and Kaiser gently laid the robes 
of a Knight of the Garter, placing at the head a diamond crown. Be- 
neath lay the royal ensign, while hanging above was the union jack. 

At the altar was the rector of Whippingham, who read a portion of 
the funeral service in the presence of the royal family. Emperor Wil- 
liam covered his face with his hands, and the grief of Princess Beatrice 
was pitiful. After the benediction each placed a wreath upon the coffin, 
and then all retired. 

The Emperor's tribute bore on its sashes the initial "W." The offer- 
ing of the German Empress bore the initials "A. V.," standing for Au- 
gusta Victoria. A token was from the family of Dowager Lady Amp- 
thill, who was the dearest friend of the Queen after the death of 
Dowager Lady Churchill. The wreath was inscribed: "In reverent and 
profoundest grief and with deep devotion, from Her Majesty's sorrowing 
subject and servant, Emily Ampthill." The wreath that perhaps touched 
the family more than any was "a small token of loyalty and deep regret 
from Miss Norman, and the nursing sisters of the Royal Victoria Hospi- 
tal at Netley." The hospital is on the mainland opposite Osborne. 

"Good-by, dear Queen," were the words with which a morning paper 
closed an editorial. They serve as the keynote of the expressions of 
sorrow which the newspapers lavished in memory of the Queen whom 
all of them delighted to honor. Greater than the pride in the achieve- 
ments of her reign, which one paper described as "a dream of empire 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 379 

coming true," was the sense expressed in every comment of the irrepar- 
able loss which the nation and the individuals composing it sustained. 
The various eulogies were but a paraphrase of the same sentiment of 
loving admiration and regret. 

The Daily Mail said: 

"We can but regret that the Queen was not permitted to see the end 
of the South African struggle. She has been taken from us in a dark 
hour, which, we may hope, is a prelude to the dawn, and when we can ill 
spare her ripe experience and her vast knowledge of measures and 
men." 

"Let us think of her this morning," said the Daily Chronicle, "by 
her highest title, not by her crown and sceptre, but by her own magnifi- 
cent and splendid ideal of womanhood. This it is which touches the 
heart's core of a proud and imperial race. We have lost mother, wife 
and Queen." 

Henry Labouchere wrote a remarkable tribute to Queen Victoria, a 
tribute all the more remarkable because of his democratic ideas and 
frank criticisms of royalty. 

"Among all her millions of subjects," he said, "there are but few who 
will not mourn for her loss as for one of their own household. Nor will 
the mourners be found among her own subjects alone. It is not too 
much to say that never in the history of the world has a single death 
caused such universal grief. Alike in happiness and sorrow, she lived 
a life beyond reproach, without thought of self and unreservedly devoted 
to the duties of the hour. Although occuj^ying perhaps the proudest posi- 
tion ever filled by a woman, and never wanting in a certain Queenly 
dignity, her tastes, habits, demeanor, and even her dress, were marked 
by the rarest simplicity. 

"She has been, indeed, the mother of her people, and as a mother she 
will be mourned. In all the affairs of state she manifested the same 
wisdom that inspired her private life, nor did her own country alone 
enjoy the fruits of her experience and sagacity. Through her kindred 
and descendants abroad her influence for many years has been felt in 
continental politics, always on the side of peace; and, in at least one 
crisis, she is known to have rendered service to the whole of Europe. 
Her sudden and lamentable breakdown was due entirely to worry and 
overwork. She had been greatly distressed by events in South Africa 
and by domestic griefs." 



380 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

The great interest in the illness of Queen Victoria manifested 
throughout the official circle in Washington and, in fact, in the capital 
generally, found expression in terms of sympathy and sorrow when the 
news came that Her Majesty was dead. A newspaper extra conveyed 
to the people of the capital the first tidings that the expected had hap- 
pened, and the shrill cries of the newsboys roused the town as it has 
seldom been roused by any great event since that hot day in July, 1881, 
when President Garfield was shot down by an assassin. The interest 
displayed in the sad news was remarkable. It had apparently not been 
decreased in the slightest degree through the knowledge of the past 
several days that the Queen was doomed. 

Very little work was done in any of the Government departments for 
the first half-hour succeeding the receipt of the announcement of Vic- 
toria's death. From the highest official to the most humble employe, 
all suspended public business during that period to discuss the effect on 
the world of the Queen's passing away. 

There could be no doubt from what was said by officials in govern- 
ment circles that Victoria was regarded as a firm friend of the United 
States. Soon after the announcement of Her Majesty's death had been 
received the officials concerned set about taking the usual steps to con- 
vey the sympathy of the United States to the new King, the British 
Government and the people over whom Victoria ruled. In accordance 
with directions from the White House the flags of all the Government 
buildings were placed at half-mast, where they were exhibited in the 
same way on the day of the funeral. 

Another unusual mark of the high appreciation of the worth of the 
deceased Queen was the action taken by the House of Representatives 
in adjourning as a mark of respect to he^ memory. The Senate adopted 
a resolution deploring the death of the Queen. 

The President and the Secretary of State did not wait before taking 
action with regard to the Queen's death to receive official notification of 
the sad event. They accepted as authentic the press dispatches con- 
taining the bulletin of Her Majesty's physicians announcing the news, 
and Secretary Hay, in behalf of the Government, immediately dis- 
patched a message to United States Ambassador Choate in London. 
The message follows: 

"Choate, Ambassador, London : You will express to Lord Lansdowne 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 381 

the profound sorrow of the Government and the people of the United 
States at the death of the Queen, and the deep sympathy we feel with 
the people of the British Empire in their great affliction. 

"JOHN HAY." 

A few minutes later this telegram from the President to the new 
King was sent from the White House: 

"His Majesty, the King, Osborne. House, Isle of Wight: I have 
received with profound sorrow the lamentable tidings of the death of 
Her Majesty the Queen. Allow me, sir, to offer' my sincere sympathy 
and that of the American people in your personal bereavement and in 
the loss Great Britain has suffered in the death of its venerable and 
illustrious sovereign, whose noble life and beneficent influence have 
promoted the peace and won the affection of the world. 

"WILLIAM M'KINLEY." 

Later in the day Lord Pauncefote, the British Ambassador, received 
a dispatch from the Marquis of Lansdowne, Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
saying that the Queen had passed away. The union jack was raised 
half-mast high on the tall pole in front of the embassy and the window 
shades were drawn when the announcement of Her Majesty's death 
was received. A memorial service was held in an Episcopal church on 
the day of the funeral which was attended by the President, the Cabi- 
net, the diplomatic corps, and official Washington generally. 

To Lord and Lady Pauncefote the Queen's death came in the nature 
of a personal affliction, as they had both been the recipients of many 
personal kindnesses at the hands of Her Majesty. On their last visit 
to England they were the Queen's guests at Osborne, and there Lord 
Pauncefote, then Sir Julian Pauncefote, was elevated to the peerage. 

The official announcement of the Queen's death was not received by 
the Governor-General of Canada until 7:20 o'clock Tuesday night. 

The following cablegram w^as sent immediately by the Governor- 
General to Mr. Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the colonies: 

"The announcement of Her Majesty's death, which has just reached 
Canada, has created universal sorrow. My ministers desire that you 
will convey to His Majesty the King and to the members of the royal 
family an assurance that the people of Canada share in the great grief 
that has visited them. No greater sovereign has ever ruled over the 



382 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

British people or been more beloved and honored by her subjects than 
Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, and by none has this love and respect been 
more deeply felt than by the people of His Majesty's Dominion of 
Canada." * 

Following was the Governor-General's proclamation: 

"Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to call to his mercy our late 
feovereign lady, Queen Victoria, of blessed and glorious memory, by 
whose decease the imperial crown of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland and all other late possessions and dominions are 
solely and rightfully come to the high and mighty Prince Albert Ed- 
ward, Prince of Wales, 

"I, the said Gilbert John Eliot, Earl of Minto, etc., Governor-General 
of Canada, assisted by His Majesty's privy council for Canada, hereby 
publish and proclaim that the high and mighty Prince Albert Edward 
is now, by the death of the late sovereign of happy memory, become our 
only lawful and rightful liege lord, Albert Edward by the grace of God, 
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of 
India, defender of the faith, to whom let all therefore acknowledge faith 
and constant obedience with all hearty and zealous affection, beseech- 
ing God, by whom kings do reign, to bless the royal Edward VII. with 
long and happy years to reign over us. God save the King." 

Proclamation followed ordering a period of mourning for the Queen. 
All social entertainments at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor- 
General, were canceled, and the official correspondence of every depart- 
ment of government was ordered for the next three months to be written 
on mourning paper. 

In no part of the British dominions w^as Queen Victoria more sin- 
cerely mourned than in Canada; for the fact is recalled that almost her 
latest public appearance was on the occasion of her review of the Cana- 
dian troops upon their return from South Africa. It was the Queen who 
chose Ottawa as the seat of government for the Deminion, and the capi- 
tal made special observance of her death. 

His Worship Mayor Morris said: 

"Windsor Castle and Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, have been linked by 
ties of loyalty almost since confederation. Ottawans have had better 
opportunities of judging Her Majesty through her representa- 
tives than have other Canadian communities. She has been 
reverently esteemed by the radical and loyalist alike in an irreverent 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. Z^Z 

age. I think the judgment of history will concede her the foremost 
place among the monarchs and colossal figures of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. I, therefore, on behalf of Canada^s capital city, waft the loyal 
devotion of the learned, the deep sympathy of the noble, the tears of the 
orphans, the benediction of the widow, the worship of the poor and the 
love of all to the memory of Victoria, our Queen." 

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the first French Canadian premier of the Domin- 
ion, upon whom Her Majesty showered signal honors during her Jubilee, 
was deeply affected by the announcement of Queen Victoria's death. 
His tribute to the Queen follows : 

"We, British subjects of all races and origins, in all parts of the 
world, were inspired by sentiments of exalted and chivalrous devotion 
to the person of Her Most Gracious Majesty. This devotion was not 
the result of any maudlin sentiment, but it sprang from the fact that 
the Queen, the sovereign of the many lands which constitute the British 
Empire, was one of the noblest women that ever lived — certainly the 
best sovereign that England ever had, and the best that probably ever 
lived in any land. 

"We know that the present war in South Africa was particularly 
painful to Her Majesty. She had hoped that the closing years of her 
long and prosperous reign would not be saddened by such a spectacle, 
but it was not in the decrees of Providence that this hope and wish 
should be gratified. 

"We had hoped that when the end of this long and glorious reign 
came it would close upon a united Empire, wherein peace and good will 
should prevail among all men. Let us still hope that this happy con- 
summation may not be long delayed." 

Grief and joy were never so closely joined as in the official eulogies 
of the dead monarch and the congratulations to the new one. These 
were pronounced in both houses of Parliament by the respective leaders 
in response to the first message from the King to the people's represen- 
tatives. It was the greatest Parliamentary scene in recent times, and 
the orations pronounced by Lord Salisbury and Mr^ Balfour, while un- 
pretending, were adequate appreciations of the gTeat and good sov- 
ereign now dead. They were worthy of the occasion, which, as one of 
the speakers said, marked the close of an epoch in the world's history. 
It will not be counted to them as a lack of loyalty to the new sovereign 



384 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

if the burden of their words was sorrow for the lost more than of joy for 
the gained. 

Great audiences, somber and silent in their mourning garments, 
hung almost breathlessly upon the words of the nation's leaders as they 
led them through conflicting emotions from grief to consolation, from 
hope to a new allegiance. 

The House of Commons met at 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon to 
receive the first message from King Edward VII. to the House. Many 
peers were in the places specially reserved for them, and well-known 
society women and peeresses were in the galleries. A. J. Balfour, First 
Lord of the Treasury and Government leader, brought up a message 
from the King, which the Speaker, William Court Gully, read as fol- 
lows: 

"The King is fully assured that the House of Commons will shave 
the deep sorrow which has befallen His Majesty and the nation by the 
death of His Majesty's mother, the late Queen. Her devotion to the 
welfare of her country, and her wise and beneficent rule during sixty- 
four years of glorious reign will ever be held in affectionate memory by 
her loyal and devoted subjects throughout the dominions of the British 
Empire." 

Mr. Balfour, after the reading of the message, rose amid impressive 
silence to move an address to the King. He said: 

"The history of this House is not a brief or uneventful one, but I 
think it never met under sadder circumstances than to-day, or had a 
duty laid upon it more clearly of expressing a universal sorrow, which 
extends not only from one end of the kingdom to the other, but from one 
end of the Empire to the other — a sorrow which fills every heart, and 
which every citizen of this great Empire feels, not merely as a national, 
but also as an irreparable personal loss. 

"I do not know how others may feel, but for my own part I can 
hardly yet realize the magnitude of the blow which has fallen on the 
country. It was a blow, indeed, which we had sorrowfully to expect, 
but not on that account was it any the less heavy when it fell. 

"I suppose that in all the history of the British monarchy there has 
never been a case when the feeling of national grief has been so deep- 
seated as at present — so universal, so spontaneous — and that grief 
affects us not merely because of the loss which has befallen us, but 
because we feel, as it were, that the end of a great epoch has come — an 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 385 

epoch, the beginning of which stretches far beyond the memory of any 
individual I am now addressing, and which embraces within its compass 
sixty-three years. I venture to think that this epoch has been more 
important, more crowded with great changes than almost any other 
period of the same length that could be selected in the history of the 
world. 

"It is wonderful to think when so many changes now familiar to us 
and almost vulgarized by constant discussion and repetition, were yet 
unthought of or undeveloped; those great industrial inventions; those 
great economic changes; those great discoveries of science which are 
now in all men's mouths — before these, I say, were thought of or devel- 
oped. Queen Victoria ruled over this Empire. 

"But it is not simply the length of her reign, not simply the magni- 
tude of the events with which her reign was filled, which has produced 
the deep, abiding emotion that stirs all hearts throughout the Empire. 
The reign of Queen Victoria is no mere chronological landmark. It is 
no mere convenient division of time useful for the historian or the 
chronicler. We feel as we do feel because we were intimately associated 
with the personality of Queen Victoria during the succession of the 
great events which filled her reign and during the development of the 
Empire wherever she has ruled, and in so associating her personality 
with these events surely we do well. 

The importance of the constitution, in my judgment, is not a dimin- 
ishing, but an increasing, factor. It is increasing and must increase 
with all the growth and development of those free, self-governing com- 
munities — those new commonwealths beyond the seas which are bound 
to us by the person of the sovereign, who is the leading symbol of the 
unity of the Empire. 

"But it is not given to a constitutional monarch to signalize his reign 
by any great isolated action. The effect of a constitutional sovereign, 
great as it is, is produced by the slow and constant cumulative result 
of a great ideal and a great example. As to that great ideal and ex- 
ample, surely Victoria is the first of all constitutional monarchs the 
world has yet seen. 

"Where shall we find an ideal so lofty in itself, so constantly and 
consistently maintained through two generations — through more than 
two generations — of her subjects and through many generations of her 
public men' and the members of this House? 



S8() THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

"It would be impertinent in me were I to attempt to explain in words 
the effect which the character of the late sovereign produced on all who 
were in any degree brought in contact with her. The ample dignity 
befitting a monarch of this realm, in that she could not fail, because 
it arose from her inherent sense of the fitness of things. It was.no 
trapping put on for office, and therefore it was that this queenly dignity 
only served to throw into higher relief those admirable virtues of the 
wife, mother and woman with which she was so richly endowed. 

"Those kindly graces, those admirable qualities, had endeared her to 
every class of the community. Less was known perhaps of the life of 
continuous labor which the position of Queen threw upon her. Short as 
was the interval between the last trembling signature she affixed to a 
public document and her final rest, it was yet long enough to clog and 
hamper the wheels of administration. 

"When I saw the vast mass of untouched documents which awaited 
the hand of the sovereign, it was brought vividly to my mind, how 
admirable was the unostentatious patience with which, for sixty-three 
years, through sorrow and suffering, in moments of weariness, in mo- 
ments of despondency, it might be, she carried on without intermission 
her share in the government of this great Empire. For her there was 
no holiday and no intermission in her toil. Domestic sorrow and domes- 
tic sickness made no difference in her labors, from the hour when she 
became the sovereign to within a few days of her death. 

"It is easy to chronicle the growth of the Empire, the progress of 
trade, and the triumph of war, all events of which make history inter- 
esting. But who is there that will weigh in the balance the effect which 
such an example produced on the highest life of the people? It was a 
great life and had a fortunate and, in my judgment, a happy ending. 
The Queen had her reward in the undying affection of all her subjects. 
This had not always been the fate of her ancestors. It had not been the 
fate of some of the greatest among them. 

"Such was not the destiny of Victoria. She passed away with her 
children and their children's children around her, beloved of all, cher- 
ished of all. She passed away, I believe, without a single enemy in the 
world, for even those who love not England love her. She passed away 
not only knowing that she was — I almost said — worshiped by all her 
subjects, but their feeling had grown in depth and intensity that she 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 387 

was spared to us. No such reign, no such end had ever been known in 
our history. 

"The message of the King calls forth, according to immemorial 
usage, a double response. We condole with His Majesty in the inconsol- 
able loss he and his country have sustained, and congratulate him on 
his accession to the sovereignty of this ancient kingdom. 

"I suppose there is no sadder heart in the kingdom than that of the 
sovereign, and it therefore savors of irony that we should offer con- 
gratulations, yet it is not so. Each generation must bear its own bur- 
den, and in the course of nature it is right that the burden of the 
monarchy should fall on the heir to the throne. 

"It is for us on this occasion, so momentous in the history of the 
country, to express to the King our unfailing confidence that the great 
interests committed to his charge are safe in his keeping, to assure him 
of the unfailing support which his loyal subjects are ever prepared to 
give, to wish him honor and long life, and to wish above all that his 
reign may in the eyes of envious prosperity fitly compare and form 
an appropriate sequel to the great epoch which has just drawn to a 
close. 

"I now beg leave to read the following address, to which I ask the 
TTouse to assent: 

" 'Resolved, That an humble address be presented to His Majesty 
that the House deeply sympathizes with the great sorrow which His 
Majesty has sustained in the death of our beloved sovereign, the late 
Queen, whose unfailing devotion to the duties of her high estate and to 
the welfare of the people will ever cause her to be remembered with 
reverence and affection. 

" 'We submit to His Majesty our respectful congratulations on his 
accession to the throne and assure His Majesty of our loyal affection 
to his person, and further assure him of our earnest conviction that his 
reign will be distinguished, under the blessing of Providence, by his 
anxious desire to maintain the laws of the Kingdom and promote the 
happiness of his subjects.' " 

Henry Campbell-Bannerman, formerly Secretary of State for War, 
seconded the address. He indorsed the remarks of Mr. Balfour, and 
added the following tribute to Queen Alexandra: 

"It is an additional satisfaction to us to know that His Majesty will 
have by his side an august Consort, who has endeared herself to the 



388 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

hearts of the British people ever since she first set her foot on their soil. 
There will be no discordant voice in this House. If there were we 
should not fitly represent those who sent us here." 

The Speaker then put the address, which wa^ carried unanimously, 
and the House adjourned until February 14. 

The House of Lords met at 4 o'clock. There was an almost unpre- 
cedented attendance of peers, and all the available space in the galleries 
was filled. Every one was attired in the deepest mourning. The swear- 
ing in of the members was first proceeded with, a large number taking 
the oath. 

At 4:30 o'clock Lord Salisbury announced that he had received a 
message from the King, the terms of which he would communicate to 
the House. He handed the message to the Lord Chancellor, who read 
it. The purport of the message was similar to that read in the House 
of Commons. 

Lord Salisbury then rose and said: 

"I have to move that an humble address be presented to His Majesty, 
to assure His Majesty that this House deeply sympathizes with him in 
the great sorrow His Majesty has sustained by the death of our beloved 
sovereign, the late Queen, whose unremitting devotion to the duties of 
her high estate and the welfare of her people will ever cause her reign 
to be remembered with reverence and affection, and to submit to His 
Majesty our respectful congratulations upon his accession to the throne, 
and to assure His Majesty of our loyal attachment to his person. We 
further assure him of our earnest conviction that his reign will be dis- 
tinguished under the blessing of Providence by an anxious desire to 
maintain the laws of the Kingdom and promote the happiness and 
liberties of his subjects. 

"My Lords, in making this motion I have to perform by far the sad- 
dest duty that has ever befallen me, and you in voting it will be ani- 
mated by similar feelings. We are echoing the accents of sorrow which 
reach us from every part of the Empire and from every part of the 
globe, which express the deepest and most heartfelt feelings, feelings 
deeper than I have ever seen, of sorrow for the singular loss, which, 
under the dispensation of Divine Providence, we have suffered, and of 
admiration for the glorious reign and splendid character of the sov- 
ereign taken from us. 

"M^'^ Lords, the late Queen had so many titles to admiration that it 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

would occupy enormous time to glance at tliem even perfunctorily. One 
that I think will be attached to her character in history is that, being 
a constitutional Queen with restricted powers, she reigned by sheer 
force of character, by the lovableness of her disposition, over the hearts 
of her subjects, and exercised influence in molding their character and 
their destinies which she could not have done more had she had the 
most despotic of powers. She has been the greatest instance of govern- 
ment by example and by love, and it will never be forgotten how much 
she has done for the elevation of her people, not by the exercise of any 
prerogative, not by giving any command, but by the simple sight and 
contemplation of the brilliant qualities she exhibited in her exalted 
position. 

"My Lords, we who have had opportunity of seeing the close work- 
ing of her character in the discharge of our duty to her, take this oppor- 
tunity of testifying to the great admiration which she inspired and the 
great force which her distinguished character exercised over all who 
came near her. The position of a constitutional sovereign is not an 
easy one. Duties have to be reconciled which sometimes seem far apart. 
That may have to be accepted which may not always be pleasing to 
accept, but she showed wonderful power of observing with the most 
absolute strictness the limits imposed by the constitution, and, on the 
other hand, of maintaining a steady and persistent influence on the 
action of her ministers and the course of legislation, an influence which 
none could mistake. 

"She was able to accept some things which, perhaps, she did not 
entirely approve, but which she thought it her duty in her position to 
accept. She always maintained and practiced a rigorous supervision 
over public affairs, giving her Ministers the privilege of her advice, and 
warning them of dangers, if she saw dangers ahead. 

"She certainly impressed many of us with a profound sense of her 
penetration, almost intuition, with which she saw the perils with which 
we were threatened and the course it was expedient to pursue. She 
left on my mind that it was always dangerous to take any step of any 
great importance of the wisdom of w^hich she was not thoroughly con- 
vinced. Without going into details I may say with confidence that no 
Minister during her long reign ever disregarded her advice or pressed 
her to disregard it without always feeling that he had incurred a dan- 
gerous responsibility, and frequently running into the danger. 



390 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

She had au extraordinary knowledge of what her people would 
think; so much so that I have said for years that I always 
thought when I knew what the Queen thought I knew pretty 
certainly what her subjects would think, especially the middle classes. 
She had extraordinary penetration, yet she never adhered to her own 
conception obstinately. On the contrary, she was full of concession and 
consideration. She spared no effort, I might almost say she shrank from 
no sacrifice, to make the task of conducting this difficult government 
easier to her advisers than might otherwise have been. 

"My Lords : I feel sure my testimony will be abundantly sustained 
by all who were called to counsel with her. We owe her a debt of 
gratitude for her influence in elevating the people, and gratitude for 
her power over foreign courts and sovereigns in removing difficulties 
and misrepresentations which sometimes jDrevailed, but, above all, I 
think we owe her gratitufle for this. By a happy dispensation her reign 
coincides with the great change which has come over the political struc- 
ture and institutions of this country. She bridged over the great inter- 
val separating old England and new England. Other nations have had 
to pass through the same ordeal, but they seldom passed it so peace- 
fully, easily, and with so much prosperity. I think that future histo- 
rians will look upon her reign as the boundary separating the two con- 
stitutions of England, which has changed so much. We have done it 
with a constant increase of public prosperity, without friction and with- 
out endangering peace or the stability of civil life, with, at the same 
time, a constant expansion of the Empire, which grows more and more. 
We owe all these blessings to the tact, wisdom, passionate patriotism 
and incomparable judgment of our late sovereign." 

The most conspicuous feature of the numerous tributes to the mem- 
ory of Queen Victoria was the almost universal exaltation of her per- 
sonal virtues abote her influence as Queen. President McKinley in 
his message of condolence spoke of her "noble life which has won the 
affection of the world." Sir Thomas Lipton said: "She exalted the 
womanhood of the world." Labouchere, who rarely agreed with her 
policy as Queen, said she was "the mother of her people." Ex-President 
Harrison said, "More hearts pulsated with love for her and more knees 
bowed before her queenly personality than before the Queen of Great 
Britain." Bishop Potter said, "People who had never been to England 
and never expect to go felt the same personal devotion to her." Pro- 




' — \ 

o 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 393 

fessor Patton said, "A queenly woman she was; what is better, a wom- 
anly Queen." Cardinal Gibbons paid a warm tribute to her domestic 
virtues, and the London Times gave expression to English feeling in 
the following words : "We have to thank the Queen for influence of 
the most potent kind, consistently and vigorously used to enforce pro- 
gressive ideals of social and personal virtues, of religious faith, and of 
Christian life." 

Expressions similar in tenor to these characterized the tributes of 
men and women in all parts of the world. These tributes show that the 
world esteems lofty womanhood more than regal power, and personal 
virtue more than political influence. And no Queen in modern or in 
ancient days better deserved such a tribute. In her influence upon man- 
ners and morals she held world-wide sway over the hearts of men and 
women. Her purity and integrity of character commended her to her 
subjects, and they acknowledged the force of these traits and manifested 
their appreciation by such an outpouring of sympathy as no other 
English sovereign ever received. In devotion to her domestic duties, 
in the bringing up of her family, in the enforcement of morality without 
prudery, in devotion to religion without bigotry, in personal courtesy 
to every one, in simplicity of tastes, habits and dress, in all gentle dig- 
nity and sweet graciousness, the influence of her character was greater 
than the influence of her position. She set an example to all women of 
exalted, useful. Christian womanhood which is a grander record than 
that of queenly power or royal state. 

'Tis only noble to be good. 

Kind hearts are more than coronets. 

The mourners at Osborne House gathered at noon on Sunday in the 
little flint and plaster church at Whippingham, where a week before 
the Queen's daughters attended a service in memory of Prince Henry 
of Battenberg. The same closed carriages that are used constantly 
between the pier and Osborne House galloped down the damp road in a 
boisterous wind and past the little single-storied red brick royal alms- 
houses. The coachmen wore long buff coats with crepe armlets. 

King Edward, Queen Alexandra and Emperor William descended 
from the first carriage. The Queen and all her ladies wore heavy crepe 
veils. The others of tlie party were attired in civilian mourning. A 
large number of Victoria's relatives were at Osborne, and the party 



a94 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

filled the royal pews, which are on a dimly lit side aisle, and separated 
and invisible from the little space reserved for the congregation, which 
was not large. The aged Duke of Cambridge made his appearance pub- 
licly among the mourners. The front public pew was occupied by Earl 
Roberts, William St. John Broderick, and Viscountess Gort. They 
were staying at Viscount Gort's East Cowes castle, near Osborne 
House. The royal children were placed in the Battenberg chapel, 
where the white marble tomb of Prince Henry still bore the flowers 
placed on it a week before. The entire assemblage were in plain black 
mourning except the children, who were in white. 

The Bishop of Winchester preached a simi)le, touching sermon on the 
late Queen's worth and example. He spoke of the presence of the 
"great ruler of the German people, who is simply taking his place 
quietly as the grandson of Queen Victoria, thereby cementing by the 
force of sentiment, which is keener and farther reaching than any force 
on earth, the undying friendship of the two great kindred branches of 
our race. To him on this day, his birthday, all England, even in her 
sorrow, is paying a tribute of glad, because ungrudging, homage." 

Sir Walter Parratt, private organist to the late Queen, played a spe- 
cial organ prelude by Chaminade, two movements from Mendelssohn's 
sonatas, one of Schumann's airs, and a Hebrew melody, which was a 
lament for the departed. He played Beethoven's Funeral March after 
the service. 

When the church was emptied, the German Emperor and the Crown 
Prince drove direct to the pier and crossed the Alberta's deck and 
entered a small steam launch flying the flag of the German black eagle. 
They bowled swiftly across the rough waters to the Hohenzollern to 
receive birthday salutations, it being the forty-second anniversary of 
the birth of the Kaiser, and to prepare for the subsequent visit of 
English royalties and Earl Roberts. 

The Kaiser's presence was made the occasion of personally confer- 
ring upon him two of the highest honors that the English sovereign has 
to bestow. King Edward, in congratulating the German Emperor, 
appointed him a Field Marshal of the British army, and also presented 
to him with his own hands the insignia of the Order of the Garter, set 
with diamonds. Had the Queen lived, she intended to present the in- 
signia to His Majesty on his birthday. Emperor William expressed 
his pride in the honor of receiving both distinctions. 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 395 

At 3 o'clock King Edward, wearing the blue uniform and beaver 
cocked hat of a British Admiral, and Earl Roberts, with a scarlet coat 
under the blue cloak of a British Field Marshal, the Duke of Connaught 
in the uniform of a British General, the younger Princes and officers 
in uniform, proceeded over the same route as the Kaiser to pay him 
respects and congratulations on the deck of the Hohenzollern. The 
entire party returned soon after four o'clock, the Kaiser wearing a Brit- 
ish Admiral's uniform and the Crown Prince a gray cloak over the uni- 
form of a subaltern of the Prussian Guards. The English party 
returned first and proceeded on foot from the rear entrance of Osborne 
House to prepare for the reception of the Kaiser, the carriages returning 
to the pier to bring him and his party. His Majesty carried a loose 
bouquet of white lilies. He was received by the entire household in full 
state uniforms. 

As the afternoon wore on, the wind increased to a gale, and the sea 
tossed the imperial launches like corks. The Kaiser and the others in 
their uniforms were visible through the glass sides of the little deck 
boxes. It was high tide when they landed, and great splashes of spray 
were thrown on the carriage wheels as they passed along the little 
street from the pier side to York avenue, leading to Osborne House. At 
noon the Australia fired twenty-one guns in honor of the Kaiser. 

The only outward tribute that Englishmen could pay to the memory 
of Victoria, they paid on Sunday, January 27. For the first time, per- 
haps, in the history of the nation, the churches of England were unable 
to hold the congregations which sought admittance, nor ever before 
were seen assemblages like unto these vast multitudes in black. The 
worshipers who stood silent in the streets during the entire service at 
St. Paul's far outnumbered those who thronged the great cathedral. 
It was not an official memorial service there or in any other church, 
but there was only one theme in the words of every preacher in England 
and in the heart of every worshiper. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury occupied the pulpit at St. Paul's. 
He followed custom in taking his text — namely. Revelations xiv :3 — but 
his discourse was an earnest panegyric of the dead Queen rather than a 
seimon. He said that the labors from which she was resting and the 
fruit which remained for the blessing of the country testified that 
she had lived a life of toil if ever man or woman did. It had been said 
that a constitutional monarchy was an impossibility, the sovereign 



396 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

either being reduced to doing nothing or to interfere with the liberty of 
the people. The Queen had solved the problem and shown what consti- 
tutional monarchs must be. 

She had realized that her people were a free people and must be 
governed by those they themselves had chosen. Therefore, although 
she was ever ready in an emergency to fearlessly advise and to try to 
convince her ministers, not shrinking from stating the plain truth, she 
had, when she found she was unable to convince, yielded in the belief 
that it was better the people should be ruled by those they had elected, 
even if they proved wrong, because it would be more consistent with 
freedom, which she recognized as the source of all real progress. She 
left all statesmen a wonderful lesson of the value of a sovereign with 
such a position, and taught her ministers a lesson which it would be 
good, indeed, if all ministers of the Crown should follow, that the very 
foundation of a government of a free people was to be found in loving 
and caring for them. 

The Archbishop dwelt upon the manner in which the Queen had 
won the hearts of the people by her sympathy, and the strange instinct 
by which she almost invariably knew what the great body of the people 
felt. It was her loving sympathy, care, and watchfulness that gave her 
that remarkable power. Even beyond this was her high standard of 
conscience, which, through the influence of her presence, penetrated 
the court, which thereby became such a blessing to the people as few 
courts ever had been. Her death was an incomparable loss, but her 
works stand and mark out for every ruler the conditions in which a ruler 
may really be a blessing to the ruled. 

The reredos in Westminster Abbey and the King's stall were draped 
with purple. Dean Bradley took his text from Acts xiii:36: "For 
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell 
on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers," and from Matthew xxv:21: 
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over 
a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into 
the joy of thy Lord." 

The venerable octogenarian preacher, with his long, white hair 
beneath a skull cap, spoke reminiscently of the Queen's coronation in the 
Abbey, which he had witnessed. He pictured Her Majesty's life, em- 
phasizing especially what she had done to raise the social and moral 
tone. He closed by pathetically exclaiming: 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 397 

"And we are here to say that she has gone. Yet we are so near the 
day of death that we can scarcely realize our loss. May her memory 
and example do their work in the lives and reigns of her successors." 

A multitude of reports from every part of London and the country 
record similar tributes by every denomination. 

All of the English and Scotch societies in Chicago participated in 
the union memorial service of the First Methodist and Central churches 
for Queen Victoria in the auditorium of the former church on Sunday 
afternoon. An audience which entirely filled the church listened to the 
eulogies by the Rev. Frank Gunsaulus, of the Central church, the Rev. 
John P. Brushingham, of the First Methodist church, and the Rev. 
James MacLagan, of the Scotch Westminster church. 

The service was opened by Dr. Gunsaulus, who said that Queen Vic- 
toria always regarded the Bible as the secret of England's greatness, 
and tried to rule according to its precepts. "The Bible comforted her 
great heart as she stood by the bier of her beloved husband, even as it 
has comforted those who are about to take up the imperial power," 
he said., "It must also comfort us, for Victoria was the fairest flower 
that ever grew on the stem of our civilization. She took great solace 
in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah because she said it always made her 
hope for a greater and a better Britain. We owe gratitude for this 
sovereign lady and noble Queen; for her genuine regency of spiritual 
power, which widened all realms of the human heart. We praise this 
Queen, mother, wife, and friend for her purity of life, her holiness of 
character, supremacy of conscience, and the inspiration to new ideals 
which she has afforded us. Her life is as clear as an open book, and 
the gospel she has taught has gone to all the corners of the earth." 

The congregation of the Scotch Westminster Presbyterian church 
gathered at Adams and Sangamon streets to listen to a short service 
in honor of the Queen. The services were in charge of the Rev. James 
MacLagan, who opened them with a short prayer, followed by a sermon 
in which he eulogized Victoria. 

In the New England Congregational church, the Rev. Dr. W. D. 
Mackenzie, the pastor, delivered a eulogy upon Queen Victoria. He 
spoke at length on the womanly side of her character, and said that she 
came upon the throne at a time when the crown was not popular in 
Great Britain. What would have been hard for a William IV. to 
accomplish was tolerated in a young girl known to have been carefully 



398 THE DEATH OF THE. QUEEN. 

nurtured. As she grew wiser, stronger, and riper, the more her people 
understood and loved her. The people of England and the colonies 
began to look upon her as if she were the mother of a vast family. 

The British and American flags, draped in black, headed the pro- 
cessional at the opening of the memorial services in Trinity Episcopal 
church, Twenty-sixth street and Michigan avenue. It was distinctly a 
British audience which had assembled from all parts of the city to pay 
tribute to the departed monarch. The Sons and Daughters of St. 
George and the Caledonia Society were represented. 

Along with the stars and stripes, the cross of St. George was dis- 
played prominently from the chancel and pulpits. Among those who 
assisted in the services were the Rev. Herman Page, St. Paul's Epis- 
copal church; the Eev. Mr. Lealtad, St. Thomas' church, and the Lex- 
ing-ton Quartette. The opening words, by the Rev. William C. Rich- 
ardson, rector of Trinity church, were followed by addresses by the Rev. 
Francis J. Hall, professor in the Western Theological Seminary, and 
by Judge Holdom, of the Superior Court. 

George E. Gooch, president of the Sons and Daughters of the 
British Empire and ex-president of the Federation of British Societies, 
was the principal speaker at the memorial service held at 
Emmanuel Methodist church, in Evanston. President Charles J. Little, 
of Garrett Biblical Institute, also made a brief address. Mr. Gooch 
said in j)art: "The good Queen of England was not a ruler in the 
accepted sense of the term. She was not an absolute sovereign, but ruled 
her subjects through her ministers. Victoria was a good and powerful 
woman, and it was her goodness that made her powerful. She was the 
force that preserved the peace of England in many times of greatest 
peril. It was Victoria who made England the friend of the United 
States. Once at a crucial period in our history she kept her ministers 
from recognizing the independence of the South. She has been our 
friend in times of peace and of adversity. We love her as the English 
love her, and will cherish her memory on this side of the Atlantic. 

"When the history of the nineteenth century is written, she will be 
called 'Victoria the Great,' and it will be a just title. She was pure in 
heart and mighty in intellect, and the great changes in English policy 
and in English society have been the result of the conscience of this 
great Queen." 

Queen Victoria's life, reign, and death formed the theme in many 



THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 399 

Washington pulpits, while in most of the churches of all denominations 
fitting reference was made to the demise of the ruler of the British 
Empire. At Epiphany church an elaborate service was celebrated at 11 
o'clock in memoriam. The Rev. Dr. Randolph H. McKim, the rector, 
delivered a sermon on the life and death of the Queen. A special 
musical programme was. arranged for the service. 

Lord Pauncefote, the British Ambassador, attended the service, ac- 
companied by Lady Pauncefote and the Misses Pauncefote; Gerard A. 
Lowther, the first secretary; H. C. Norman, third secretary, and Burton- 
Alexander, honorary attache of the embassy. Members of the Sons of 
St. George were conspicuous among the congregation. The service was 
one of marked solemnity. 

In concluding his sermon, Dr. McKim said : "It is here that I find 
the most impressive and important lesson of the royal life that has just 
been terminated. In her we see simple virtue triumphant over the 
world. In her career we see that the mightiest force in society and in 
history is character. Yes, not genius, not intellect, not masterful will, 
not vaulting ambition, is the most puissant influence in the evolution of 
society and of man, but character; the character that is built on the 
practice of virtue under the inspiration of Christian faith." 

In a sermon at the First Baptist church, Dr. T. De Witt Talmage said 
in part : 

"As nearly four years ago the English and American nations shook 
hands in congratulation at the Queen's jubilee, so now these two nations 
shake hands in mournful sympathy at the Queen's departure. No 
people outside Great Britain so deeply feel this mighty grief as our 
people. Take from our veins the Welsh blood, or the English blood, 
or the Irish blood, or the Scotch blood, and the stream of our life would 
become a mere shallow." 

At Osborne, during the few days' interval between the death of the 
Queen and the imposing funeral ceremonies, all was quiet. The royal 
personages waiting the eventful day walked about the grounds and 
passed the hours in solemn silence. People throughout the countryside 
show^ed their deep sorrow, for they felt that they were taking leai'^e of 
one wnom they had grown to look upon as peculiarly their own. 

IBy Thursday evening a glittering crescent of light stretched from_ 
Cowes to Portsmouth. It consisted of ten miles of warships, the pick 
of the British, French and German navies. These were at anchor, 



400 THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. 

ready to take their part in the ceremonies, when the navy should pay a 
last magnificent tribute to the sovereign whose reign was marked by 
the greatest naval progress in the history of the nation. 

Apart from these peaceful rows and rows of twinkling port lights, 
separated from each other by only a few cable lengths, one might fancy 
that the quiet towns of Cowes and Kyde might be undergoing a block- 
ade. The guns swept the wooded shores at short range. At the head 
of the line were the old paddle-wheel royal yachts, their somber hulls 
standing out in vivid contrast against the huge white sides of the 
Hohenzollern. Then, in a single column, came the British battleships. 
Half way to Portsmouth the single line merged into a stately double- 
row, the vessels of the foreign nations and the biggest of the British 
craft lying there and waiting to salute the body of England's lamented 
Queen. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

The Journey from Cowes to Portsmouth — Royalty follows the Bier— Order of the Procession 
— Ajcriyal of the Train at Victoria Station — The Seryices at Windsor — Foreign Diplomats 
in Attendance — ^Exercises in all Parts of the World — Mrs. Gtarfleld's Tribute — The Final 
Ceremonies — Eulogies From Great Men of all Lands. 

HE first portion of the passage of Victoria, to the earth from 
whence she came and over so large a portion of which she 
ruled was completed on Friday. Through winding lanes of 
almost sumhier verdure, through floating walls of steel — 
bulwarks of the mourning nation — her body was borne; on land by a 
gun carriage, on water by a royal yacht. It was Queen's weather to 
the last. The early morning mists rolled away at noon, the wind sang 
its softest requiem, the waters of the Solent were as still and quiet as 
the mourning thousands who gathered to do homage to Queen, Woman, 
and Friend. 

The ceremonies in connection with the funeral of Queen Victoria 
were begun at noon, when the Bishop of Winchester conducted a service 
in the chapel and drawing-room of Osborne House. 

The chapel, in which the Queen's body lay, opens immediately 
upon the hall of Osborne House. The house has wings, which stand 
forward on either side of the main building, and it was alongside these 
wings and facing the center, that the group, consisting of the coffin- 
bearers, the escort, etc., was gathered. 

The coffin was moved to the end of the hall after the services and 
a new pall spread over it. This was of ivory satin, with a great cross 
of cloth of gold down the center and the royal arms embossed in the 
corners. A large artificial crown had been placed at the head of the 
coffin and the real jeweled scepter at the foot. 

At one o'clock Osborne House looked tenantless and still. The 
shadow of the south wing slowly lessened as the afternoon advanced, 
allowing the sunshine to rest on the glass porch over the Queen's 
entrance. The lawns were white with frost where the firs and other 
evergreens sheltered the grass. The only sign of death, except the 

401 



402 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

white, drawn blinds, was the bright royal standard at half-mast on the 
tower over the three-storied house. 

Soon after one o'clock, the red-coated soldiers of the Queen's com- 
pany of the Grenadier Guards, bearing a great purple silk flag with a 
cloth of gold crown worked in it, entered the quadrangle and faced the 
ro3^al entrance. Then the first military order was heard, when the 
officer in command said: "Rest on your arms reversed." The men 
leaned on the butts of their rifles in an attitude of mute grief, like the 
four watchers who guarded the coffin in the chapel. Meanwhile officers 
in brilliant uniforms, who were attending royal personages, kept pass- 
ing in at the south entrance. 

A six-horse gun carriage, with a twelve-pounder below the platform 
for the coffin, passed under the glass porch, the men wearing the blue 
uniforms and yellow braided jackets of the' Royal Horse Artillery. 
The carriage was halted at the door of Osborne House. A group of the 
Alberta's bluejackets stood behind the artillerymen. 

The Queen's Highlanders, wearing short blue jackets with silver 
buttons, the Royal Stuart tartan and Idlts and white horsehair sporrans, 
entered the royal doorway at 1 :20 o'clock, and ten minutes later from 
within the house, through the glass porch, the cloaked coffin was borne 
into the sunlight and placed at rest on the gun carriage. 

Then, bareheaded, came the Queen's male descendants. King Ed- 
ward, Emperor William, and the Duke of Connaught formed the first 
row. The King and the Kaiser wore the uniforms of British Admirals, 
and the Duke of Connaught that of a British General. 

Prince Arthur of Connaught, Prince Henry of Prussia, and the Duke 
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha followed the first line. The young DuJ e 
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha looked boyish in the uniform of a Colon< ^ 
and with top boots. 

The naval and military equerries, in white-plumed hats and full uni- 
form, and wearing their various orders, lined each side of the gun 
carriage. 

At 1:40 o'clock the procession started in bright sunshine. 

The (Queen's company of Grenadiers, with the Queen's colors, pre- 
sented arms and formed in double column, through which the gun car- 
riage passed. On the lawn facing the entrance to Osborne House the 
households of the late Queen and of King Edward and Queen Alex- 
andra were formed in line. 



. THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 403 

Prom the Queen's gate the full procession moved off in the following 
order: 

Mounted grooms. 

The Deputy Assistant Adjutant General of the Southern District. 

A detachment of the Hampshire Carbineers. 

The Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Wight and staff of the Southern 

District. 

Staff of the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. 

The General commanding the Southern District. 

The Naval Commander-in-Chief. 

Massed bands and drums of the Royal Marine Artillery and of the Royal 

Marine Light Infantry, who played a funeral march as they passed 

out of the Queen's gate. 

The Queen's Highlanders. 

The Queen's pipers. 

The gun carriage, drawn by eight horses and preceded and followed by 

her late Majesty's equerries and aides-de-camp, escorted by the 

Queen's company of Grenadier Guards, with the coffin. 

King Edward VII. of England. 

Emperor William of Germany. 

The Duke of Connaught. 

The Crown Prince of Germany. 

Prince Henry of Prussia. 

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. 

The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 

Prince Battenberg. 

Queen Alexandra of England. 

The Duchess of York. 

The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 

Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. 

Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll). 

Princess Beatrice (Princess Henry of Battenberg). 

The Duchess of Connaught. 

The Duchess of Albany. 

Princess Victoria of Wales. 

Princess Charles of Denmark, 

Her late Majesty's ladies in waiting. 

Her late Majesty's household. 



404 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

The household of the King. 

The household of the Queen. 

The household of Emperor William. 

The household of the Royal family. 

Military officers, eight abreast. 
The Royal servants and tenants. 

The King, Emperor William, and the Duke of Connaught, walking 
abreast, stepped slowly and mournfully, a sad-looking group, in spite of 
the brilliancy of their uniforms. The King's features were seared and 
bore the mark of grief. His head was bowed. But, in all that assem- 
blage there will ever stand out one face — that of the German Emperor. 
Its tannned, almost olive, contours were turned towards the sun, and 
his mustache-brushed upper lip enhanced the firmness of his chin. It 
was apparent that the Emperor was undergoing a mental strain. 

Then the most truly pathetic feature of the day came in view. It 
was a simple little band in black, for all the world like the sisters of 
some religious order, mourning humbly for one of their order who had 
passed away. None was distinguishable from the others. All wore 
plain black dresses, with long crepe veils, and they followed meekly 
and with downcast heads. Yet the first was Alexandra, Queen of Eng- 
land, and with her was the Duchess of York, the woman who, if she 
lives, will also hold the proud title. Behind them walked the women 
to whom every knee in England, however noble, is bowed in courtesy. 

The procession ' marched slowly down the winding, cedar-hedged 
path until the gate was reached, where the glittering military escort 
was met, the massed bands, with forty muffled drums, breaking out 
with the dead march and the cortege pursuing its sluggish way in the 
midst of intense silence, save the music of the bands. The pipers fol- 
lowed the first dirge with the Scottish lament, "The Flowers of the For- 
est." As they reached the Queen's gate and wailed their closing strain, 
the muffled drums rolled with oft-recurring rhythmic beats. Then the 
massed bands burst forth into Chopin's "Funeral March." Off went 
every hat, evei^ woman courtesied low, the troops reversed arms and 
leaned their bended heads over them, still as statues, pictures of woe. 
When the procession arrived at Trinity Pier, the massed bands 
ceased playing the funeral march, but the drums continued the muffled 
roll as the gun carriage bearing the coffin was drawn up at the end of 
the pier. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 405 

The westernmost end of the line of warships was peaceful and mo- 
tionless in the cold, sunny air. Beyond them was visible the yellow, 
sandy rim of the Hampshire foreshore at the foot of the dark green 
woods. 

Eight sailors from the royal yachts removed the coffin from the gun 
carriage to the Alberta, the Grenadiers forming a double line down the 
gangway and presenting arms. 

The coffin was borne to the chapel on the afterdeck. The awnings 
were thrown up, showing the glittering, jeweled scepter, with two gold 
orbs surmounted by jeweled crosses resting at the bottom of the pall, 
the large crown at the head of the royal standard between. 

The crimson, velvet-covered dais on the Alberta was so placed that 
the body rested at athwartship, a few feet forward of the yellow funnel, 
and flanked by two pedestals, on which were anchors formed of the 
choicest flowers, from the officers of the four naval commands, Ports- 
mouth, Davenport, the Home, and the Channel squadron, "as a slight 
token of loving devotion to their Queen." 

The King then boarded a steam launch and went to the royal yacht 
Victoria and Alberta. Shortly afterwards, the other Royalties boarded 
the royal yachts, and the Alberta, at 2:55 P. M., with its solemn bur- 
den, moved away from the pier and passed the ships which lay waiting 
in the sunlit Solent. 

The bright waters between the Isle of Wight and the mainland were 
almost a mockery of brilliance as the Alberta steamed slowly towards 
Portsmouth. The haze of the morning had disappeared, and there was 
nothing but the frosty, nipping air to suggest that it was not regatta 
week in summer or a reproduction of the great naval review of 1897. 
The sun shone on the dazzling waters, which rippled under a gentle 
breeze. Spithead and the entrance to Portsmouth harbor were faintly 
visible eleven miles away. 

The path thereto lay through a great lane of warships. They in- 
cluded some of the greatest fighting machines of the world. They 
included also German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Belg-ian, and even 
Portuguese men-of-war. 

But, to the mortification of every American who saw the memorable 
spectacle, and to the regret of the whole people of the United States, 
the Stars and Stripes, which the English nation would have welcomed 
above all others, were not visible in that magnificent fleet. The Amer- 



406 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

ican navy did not have a ship within ten days' sail of England when the 
Queen died. 

The fleet lay silent and motionless, save for the occasional flashing 
by of the torpedo boats, until 2 :50 o'clock, when a gun fired by the guard- 
ship Australia in Cowes harbor seemed to have an echo eleven miles 
long. It was almost like a single drawn-out puff of smoke on each side 
of the chain as the minute guns announced the departure of the water 
cortege. Its journey of sound, delayed by varying distance, came back 
like long-drawn peals of thunder. 

Within a few moments every warship manned its sides with blue- 
jackets along the rails, and sailors were also in the tops. Marines in 
their bright red uniforms were grouped aft, lending the only touch of 
color, besides the gold-laced ofiflcers on the bridges. 

The fleet remained without flags, with the exception of a small Union 
Jack and white ensign flying fore and aft at half-mast on each vessel. 

It was precisely three o'clock when the torpedo boats entered the 
lane, followed by the yacht Alberta, bearing the Royal coffin, and the 
attendant British Royal yachts and Emperor William's yacht Hohen- 
zoUern. 

The funeral yacht seemed bare and deserted, save for a stalwart, 
motionless figure in the bow. 

One or two officers, including Admiral Fullerton, stood on the bridge. 
The only flags displayed were the royal standard and the Admiralty 
Union Jack. Nothing else could be seen until the Alberta was nearly 
alongside the various vessels of the waiting fleet. The awning in the 
stern of the Alberta nearly hid the object which all eyes were straining 
to see, but when opposite each ship, and while the band of each man-of- 
war played Beethoven's "Funeral March," the men of the British navy 
saw the coffin of their sovereign. It was arranged the same as in the 
Chapel Ardente at Osborne. It was placed athwartship and guarded 
by a uniformed figure at each corner. Covering it was a new white 
satin pall, over which was thrown a smaller one of black, with the crown 
resting above it. The coffin was clearly visible as the yacht steamed 
slowly past. 

The main squadron of battleships and cruisers were moored two and 
a half cables apart, in one line, extending from Cowes to Spithead. 

The Channel fleet, under command of Vice- Admiral Sir Harry Holds- 
worth Rawson, formed the eastern portion, and the reserve fleet, under 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 407 

Rear Admiral Sir Gerard Henry Woel, formed the western portion. 

The foreign war vessels were moored southwest of the British ships, 
in the order of their arrival, and alongside of them were moored eight 
British gunboats, the Antelope, Gleaner, Skipjack, Leda, Rattlesnake, 
Alert, Circe and Speedwell. 

The main line was as follows, beginning at Cowes: 

The Alexandra, Camperdown, Rodney, Benbow, Oollingwood, 
Colossus, Sans Rareil, Mle, Howe, Melampus, Severn, Galatea, Bellona, 
Pactolus, Pelorus, Diana, Conqueror, Arrogant, Minerva, Niobe, Hero, 
Hood, Trafalgar, Resolution, Jupiter, Hannibal, Mars, Prince George 
and Majestic. 

Twenty minutes after the first pair of torpedo boat destroyers came 
abreast of the press boat, the historic parade had passed and was dwin- 
dling, smaller and smaller, toward the sunset, where the purple clouds 
and volumes of smoke made an overpoweringly impressive stage spec- 
tacle. The guns of each warship ceased firing when the Alberta had 
gone by, and the marines "reversed arms." But they and all the crews 
remained at their stations while the fleet steamers from the shores, 
their decks solid masses of black, crowded with thousands of the late 
Queen's subjects, raised their anchors, and followed outside the line 
of warships. 

Gradually the din of the minute guns lessened as the batteries of 
ship after ship ceased firing, while the funeral parade swept around 
the end of the line and into the entrance of Portsmouth harbor. 

It was 5 o'clock when the echoes of the last gun ceased. The sun 
was a great red globe, sinking to the hilltops, the clouds began to fall 
again upon the channel, and the body of the Queen was safe in 
Portsmouth harbor. 

Not since the diamond jubilee had Portsmouth held such a crowd 
as poured in on Friday. The bastione and promontories overlooking 
the sea and harbor and every point of vantage were black with spec- 
tators. Conspicuous in the spacious harbor was the old battleship 
Victory, on the deck of which a guard of royal marines was mounted 
and where the Admiral's band played the funeral marches. 

Darting up^ and down the sunlit harbor, a fleet of launches kept open 
a roadway for the expected fleet. 

In the meantime thousands of visitors spent the early morning on 
yachts and tugs to get a closer glimpse of the great line of warships 



408 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

which stretched from opposite South Sea. These small visiting craft, 
the glistening sunshine, and the huge bulwarks of the battleships in 
the background presented a scene of surpassing grandeur. 

To those who visited the fleet in the early morning the scene con- 
trasted strangely with the brilliant pageant which was witnessed in 
the Solent in 1897. Instead of the gayety and animation of that busy 
day, Spithead wore an air of genuine sadness, which the calm of the 
beautiful morning failed to dispel. 

Though the sun shone brightly over the headlands, a gray mist hung 
over the sea. Here and there an excursion steamer filled with sight- 
seers passed silently along the line, or a yacht or a steamer went to its 
position. But the great fleet seemed lifeless. Scarcely a small boat was 
afloat, and, except for the white ensigns which hung listlessly half-mast 
and the occasional flutter of signal bunting from the flagship, there was 
no glimpse of color to relieve the monotonous grayness of the scene. 

Three special trains brought down the members of the House of 
Lords and of the House of Commons, the diplomats, and other officials, 
and the correspondents from Victoria Station to Portsmouth early in 
the morning. A snowy frost was sprinkled over the green fields under a 
glistening sun whose rays were sifted through a typical English mist, 
while half-masted Union Jacks were hung from many buildings in the 
town along the road. A great royal standard drooped from the staff 
above the ancient gray tower of Arundel tower, the Duke of Norfolk's 
seat. 

The members of Parliament and correspondents representing every 
nation embarked on a small steamer, and were entertained at luncheon 
as guests of the Admiralty. A fog had settled over the still waters of 
the Solent through which warships appeared like great shapeless black 
rocks. 

The fleet stretched from Portsmouth to Cowes, the turrets of 
Osborne standing above the purple hills. Abreast were the battleships 
Benbow and Collingwood. These emblems of Britain's imperial power 
were the policemen guarding the avenue, ten miles long, through which 
the Queen's body was to pass to the mainland of the kingdom. 

There were nineteen British battleships, eleven cruisers, and eight 
gunboats, not even the full strength of the channel squadron. Eight 
naval Ambassadors of friendly powers were ranged along tfco Ports- 




THE MEMORIAL SERVICE IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR. 
THE DEAN OF WINDSOR PREACHING THE SERMON. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 411 

mouth end, while gunboats and steamers with official spectators formed 
the remainder of the southern line. 

The British ships were an imposing sight with their uniform decor- 
ations, coal black hulls, with a line of red just above the water, with 
upperworks and yellow smoke stacks. All displayed the Jack at the 
foremast and the White Ensign at half mast at their sterns. 

The foreign ships attracted most of the attention of the English 
spectators. Giant of the whole fleet was the Japanese battleship 
Hatsus, the largest war machine afloat, a fortress of clay-colored steel, 
with the scarlet sun on a white field hanging at the stern, the fighting 
emblem of the youngest world power. 

Emperor William's navy was represented by Nymphe, Victoria 
Louise, Hagen and Baden, all blue-gray colored upperworks. The Hagen 
was flying Prince Henry of Prussia's flag — ^yellow arms on a white field. 

The Dupuy de Lome, under France's tri-color, was a fine sight. It is 
built with a prow-fronted long ram, high out of the water. 

Portugal was represented by the cruiser Don Carlos. The ill fortune 
of Spain's navy asserted itself at the last moment, for word came that 
Emperador Carlos V. had turned back from its trip to the port with 
crippled engines. 

The pathway between the warships was a quarter of a mile wide 
avenue of clear water. Behind the lines of warships hovered a few 
yachts and channel steamers. Black torpedo boats and torpedo boat 
destroyers were skimming about and officers in gigs and launches 
swarmed everywhere. Bugle calls came over the waters and gaudy 
signal flags burst out and disappeared. The British ships were also 
lighted with gleams of the scarlet coats of the marines. 

"Queen's weather" came at noon in a burst of sunshine and the 
clouds cleared away from the channel, lingered above the tree tops 
along the crest of hills on either side, and the police boat ushered the 
merchant shipping and crowded excursion craft back to their anchor- 
ages under the shelter of the shore. 

Through the whole length of the channel there were only a long 
double file of warships with black messenger boats dashing among 
them. For nearly three hours the fleet watched for the coming of the 
funeral. The officers on the bridges, in gorgeous uniforms, with all the 
decorations and medals, scanned the Cowes shore docks through their 
glasses. An occasional brilliant burst of sunshine showed tens of 



412 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

thousands of spectators, subjects of the dead Queen, assembled to 
witness her last passage from Cowes to Portsmouth. 

When the Alberta entered the harbor at 4:40 p. m., with the 
minute guns in the forts sounding, the bells of all the churches of the 
city tolling, the ancient frigate Victory, moored there, fired a salute of 
muzzle-loaders. The marines on deck stood at arms. The Admiral's 
band played a dirge. 

The coflBn containing the Queen's body, covered with a white silken 
pall, on top of which were three crowns and the crystal orb and jeweled 
scepter, was transferred from the royal yacht to the funeral train at 
nine o'clock on Saturday morning. A crowd of privileged persons stood 
bareheaded on the bleak platform, and many were not able to restrain 
their emotion as the coffin was lifted into the Queen's special saloon 
carriage, decorated with purple emblems of mourning, and reverently 
placed on a raised platform in the center of the car. 

Four guards were stationed at the four corners of the coffin, with 
arms reversed, the gun barrel resting on the right foot and their heads 
inclined on the stocks. King Edward, Emperor William, and other 
members of the royal family then took their jjlaces in the carriages 
reserved for them, and the train drew out of the station. 

Some forty years before, the woman at whose bier the world was. now 
paying homage wrote down her wishes, saying with what manner of 
form and ceremony she should be carried to her last resting place. 
Death had just robbed her of what she held most dear, and from that 
hour she gave more thought than is wont of humanity to that journey 
which was now being accomplished. Her instructions then indited, 
and more than once revised, were faithfully obeyed. Simplicity and 
dignity marked her funeral rites, as they marked the life and character 
of Victoria. Pomp would have been a mockery, and there was none. 
A vast pageantry would have belittled her in attempting to symbolize 
her power; her body was borne through the streets of her capital upon 
a common gun carriage. 

Never did a funeral procession of a great sovereign, so few in num- 
bers, represent so much; never did so small a cavalcade contain so 
many princes and potentates. The transit of Victoria's ashes from 
deathbed to tomb through the streets of London was a thing apart, a 
spectacle that seemed not quite of earth. It was easier to believe it 
a wonderful dreamland allegory which typified the majesty of death 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 413 

and the submission of emperors and kings to tlie last great leveler. 

The funeral train was slightly delayed in reaching Victoria station, 
but this did not hinder the punctual execution of the London pro- 
gramme. The train guards reported that it seemed as though the train 
ran through an endless line of black-clad, bare-headed people, for the 
whole eighty miles of its journey. 

The train drew up at the Victoria platform opposite a large purple 
pavilion, in which were waiting the kings of Greece, Portugal, and 
Belgium, and the representatives of other foreign sovereigns. 

King Edward was the first to alight. He stepped forward imme- 
diately to greet his royal guests. He was clad in the uniform of a 
Field Marshal, over which was thrown a black cloak. His majesty 
looked extremely worn and weary, and it was evident that the great 
strain of the past fortnight had taxed his powers most severely. 

Emperor William, who quickly joined the King, was similarly 
clothed. His military figure and almost pallid face gave him, perhaps, 
a more impressive bearing than that of the King. 

The two monarchs remained for a few moments within the pavilion, 
forming, with their guests, perhaps the most remarkable group of 
crowned heads ever assembled in one spot. The other members of the 
royal party left the train meanwhile, and the humble vehicle which 
was to carry Victoria's body through the capital drew up beside the 
Queen's saloon carriage, where the bier was still under the guardian- 
ship of four of her soldiers. A detail consisting of an officer and twelve 
men of the guards and the household cavalry presently performed their 
last duty to her by lifting the coffin from the car and placing it gently 
upon the gun carriage, the royal party and guests standing silent and 
uncovered during its brief transit. 

Within ten minutes after entering the station all was ready, and 
at 11 :20 o'clock the signal was given for the last march to begin. Mean- 
time the black masses of London's population had grown denser at 
every point along the route. Thousands upon thousands of people were 
content to stand mute in places where, by no possibility, could they get 
a view of any part of the parade. They stood for hours, without strug- 
gling to gain vantage ground, seemingly satisfied to bear testimony 
simply by their presence to their love and loyalty to their Queen. 

Just as the line started on its way to Paddington there was a fitful 
gleam of wintry sunshine which rested for a few moments on the crown, 



414 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

scepter, and other insignia lying upon the simple funeral chariot; then 
it disappeared, and Victoria crossed her capital for the last time, under 
cold gray skies. 

It would be a mistake to describe this wonderful funeral cortege as 
a great pageant. It was what it typified, as in the jubilee procession 
of three years ago, not its actual display of power that made it marvelous 
above all other tributes to dead monarchs which the world has seen. 
It is in that sense that the spectacle which London then witnessed 
should be described. 

One saw, then, first, a single officer of the headquarters' staff, 
followed by three bands from the household cavalry. It seemed strange 
not to hear the familiar strains of the "dead march" on such an occa- 
sion, but it was by the Queen's own wish that the sweeter measures 
of Beethoven and Chopin stilled the ears of her mourning subjects. 

Volunteers headed the line. They were represented by the Second 
Middlesex rifles, the First Middlesex engineers, and the Tynemouth 
artillery. Very young and boyish they looked in the neat service 
uniforms. The Warwickshire Yeomanry followed, and their presence, 
like that of the volunteers, was significant of the important place these 
last reserves of the British forces held in public estimation by 
reason of the war in South Africa. Most significant of all the imperial 
forces represented in the cortege was the section which came next. It 
was a small detachment from the colonial corps as made up from such 
representatives as happened to be in London. Many Englishmen took 
off their hats when these men went by, as they did afterward to the 
royal coJfin and to the King. They would have cheered had the 
occasion been less sad. 

Four bodies of the militia came next. They w^ere the home bat- 
talions of the Gordon Highlanders, the Welsh Fusileers, the Royal Irish 
regiment, and the Norfolk regiment — representing four kingdoms. 
They also were very young men, but were apparently well-drilled 
soldiers. Detachments or individual representatives of the honorable 
artillery company, the army veteran department, the army pay corps, 
the ordnance corps, the chaplains' department, the medical corps, and 
the army service corps were next in line. 

Eepresentatives of the most numerous class of Her Majesty's sub- 
jects followed. They were the men who hailed her as Empress instead 
of Queen, and whose dark faces to-day seemed filled with grief and 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 415 

despair of a deeper intensity perhaps than all the others. There were 
not many representatives of the Indian army, but none was watched 
with keener interest. 

The regular army came next. Such corps as were not fighting in 
South Africa were the most representative selection, including, of 
course, the flower of the army and such bodies as always are reserved 
for the home defense and as guardians of the person of the sovereign. 

The most striking sight in the whole escort was that of a company 
of Grenadiers, which had been selected to accompany the Duke of York 
on his proposed Australian visit. This wonderful body of men of 
an average height of six feet ten inches, probably surpassed all military 
records. Several members were between seven feet three inches and 
seven feet four inches. No more imposing sight can be imagined than 
that of these giants in their fine uniforms and splendid accoutrements. 

The infantry of the line represented comprised the fourth battalion 
of the rifle brigade, the Royal Irish Fusileers, the Highland Light 
infantry, the King's Royal Rifle corps, the Royal Fusileers, and the 
Lancaster regiment. The Foot Guards formed the next division, and 
included the Irish, Scots, and Coldstream. Grenadiers and a corps of 
the Royal Engineers, all marching in close order. The artillery was 
represented by thr6e batteries, the Eoyal Garrison, the Royal Field, 
and the Royal Horse. Then came the cavalry, the Twenty-first Lancers 
with their bright lances leading. The dark-coated Hussars and the 
heimeted Dragoons of the household cavalry, which are attached to 
the Sovereign on all great occasions, came last. Of the regular army 
the bright red coats and plumed helmets of the Royal Horse Guards 
led, and two battalions of the Life Guards followed. 

The navy then received an honored place in the line, and there was 
nothing more impressive than the sight of a battalion of blue jackets 
of the Marine Light Infantry, marching under straw hats and with 
reversed arms. A few guns and the khaki-colored marine artillery 
completed the escort. 

The figure of Earl Roberts, mounted on a dark horse and carrying a 
Field Marshal's baton, next came into view, and at some places the 
crowds scarce forbore to cheer. He was surrounded by foreign military 
attaches and the members of his staff. 

Four military bands preceded the personal escort of the cofSn. One 



416 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

or the other of them played the same funeral music as those at the 
head of the line, throughout the entire march. 

Now came the moment when the troops lining the route of march 
presented arms and sorrowing multitudes uncovered heads. The Duke 
of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, with a bewildering array of members of 
his staff and officials of the royal household, passed, but none saw them. 
Every one looked beyond to that lowly bier, resting on the grim khaki- 
colored gun-carriage. It seemed very small, that plain receptacle of so 
precious a burden. No flower, no wreath, no ornament save the simple 
insignia of her rank, distinguished the burial car which carried the 
body of the dead Queen through her capital. The white satin pall, rich 
no doubt in texture, might have been a simple sheet so far as the 
ordinary onlooker could see. The royal standard seemed to have been 
half furled and flung carelessly across it. The crown and scepter and 
Knight of the Garter insignia served only to intensify the simplicity 
and pathos of the unpretentious funeral carriage. 

Dragging, if it may be so expressed, the nation's sorrow, were eight 
cream-colored horses, which London had not seen since the time three 
years ago when they drew the Queen through such a storm of acclama- 
tions as perhaps never greeted monarch before. They were capari- 
soned in deep crimson trappings. Even in their manes and tails 
were interwoven ribbons of what seems to have been adopted as the 
color of royal mourning. It is a peculiar tint, being neither red nor 
purple, but a blend of crimson and maroon. The postilions were simi- 
larly attired. On either side of the gun carriage walked the bearer 
paiiy of non-commissioned offlcers of the guards and the household 
cavalry, and immediately behind them came the royal standard, borne 
by another officer of the household cavalry. 

Then came the King, riding, with his eyes fixed gloomily upon the 
white coffin in front of him. , He was mounted on a dark bay, and his 
uniform, except his cocked hat, was entirely hidden by a long black 
cloak which covered also his horse^s haunches. His appearance of 
weariness, almost distress, seemed intensified by his dress. He was 
flanked about a pace to the rear by Emperor William and the Duke of 
Connaught. The Emperor was mounted on his famous white charger 
and carried a Field Marshal's baton in full view. His face seemed to 
grow whiter still after leaving Victoria station, but he was keenly alire 
to all about him. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 417 

King Edward seemed scarcely to drive, letting his horse choose his 
own place and pace as the line sometimes stopped and then moved on 
again. The Emperor, however, and the Duke of Connaught also, care- 
fully kept their horses' heads about at the shoulder of that of the King. 

Next came the others of this cavalcade of kings. He of Greece and 
he of Portugal rode almost side by side. There were princes and royal 
dukes— Henry of Prussia, Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Prince 
Arthur of Connaught, the Crown Prince of Germany, the Crown Prince 
of Koumania, the Duke of Hesse, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 
the Duke of Sparta, the Crown Prince of Denmark, the Crown Prince 
of Norway and Sweden, the Crown Prince of Siam, the Archduke Franz 
Ferdinand of Austria, the Grand Duke Michael of Russia, and others 
of the world's potentates, really too numerous to mention and too con- 
fusing in such a kaleidoscope of gold and many colors to identify. 

At the end of this bewildering throng rode a deputation of officers 
fpcm the German army and the personal suite of the Kaiser, only less 
Impressive, as splendid specimens of military manhood, than that com- 
pany of Grenadiers among the British escort mentioned above. Last 
o£ all were the six state carriages, magnificently caparisoned. The 
fii-st was drawn by four horses and was a closed chariot, containing the 
Queen and the Princesses Louise, Victoria and Maud (the latter the 
Princess Charles of Denmark). The windows were closed and the occu- 
pants were clad in the deepest mourning and were but dimly seen. In 
the following carriages were the King of Belgium, other Princesses, the 
Duke of Cambridge, Lord Wolseley and ladies of the Queen's household. 
'1 wo files of troops formed the closing escort. 

The entire line had passed Buckingham Palace at 12:30 o'clock, and 
the progress through the city was maintained almost exactly according 
to schedule. Everywhere the mourning multitude greeted the caval- 
cade with a silence more impressive than would have been any demon- 
stration of emotion. At one or two points only was a voice raised to 
greet the King and it was instantly silenced by murmurs of "hush" 
from the crowd. The spectators dispersed in the same strange silence, 
in wonderful contrast to the scenes attending the last public gathering 
in London a few weeks before. 

At Paddington station everything was in readiness for the reception 
of the cortege by noon. Without, packed close to the crim8on-painte4 
walls, stood a huge expectant throng. Within, there was a solemn hush, 



418 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

doubly impressive in that it prevailed where the busy noisy confusion of 
a great, railway station usually reigns. After the departure of the last 
ordinary train at 10 o'clock no one was admitted to any part of the 
station save the privileged guests, and they were ranged on either side 
of the entrance from the street. At the bottom of departure platform 
No. 8 and to the left of the latter, on every line of rails, stood an empty 
silent train. There they stood, covering almost the entire station, with 
no sign of life anywhere and no attempt at mourning drapery, but, 
nevertheless, strangely, mournfully impressive in the unwonted still- 
ness. 

Alongside of platform Ko. 8 stood the long royal train of saloon 
carriages, and slightly forward was the funeral car, heavily draped with 
purple hangings, in which the coffin was to be conveyed to Windsor. 
On the wide platform, the whole length of which was covered with a 
crimson carpet, just opposite the funeral car, was a large circular bed of 
white blossoms and evergreens. Below this on the curbstone stood a 
row of purple-covered blocks, with a couple of steps facing the train 
for the convenience of the mourners alighting from the carriages. At 
nearly every door of the saloon can'iages stood a liveried servant, some 
wearing long drab coats with crepe armlets^, others in scarlet, and others 
in black, while here and there stood groups of court servants wearing an 
infinite variety of liveries. Lord Cawdor, the general manager of the 
line, and other officials vigilantly watched everything, while military 
officers, some mounted and others afoot, wearing every kind of uniform 
in the British army, moved hither and thither, giving directions in tones 
inaudible to any except those addressed. Everything and everybody 
was silent within and no sound entered from without. E^nged in the 
center of the roadway opposite the funeral car stood a Guard of Honor 
of a hundred marines, standing at attention with fixed bayonets. 
Before them stood an officer with a color sergeant on either side hold- 
ing up the Queen's colors draped in black. 

Such was the silent, picturesque scene of which surely no railway 
station had ever jet seen the like, as the cortege was awaited. At 12:15 
o'clock a little company of servants entered, carrying a profusion of 
magnificent wreaths, all of white flowers, which they placed in the 
funeral car. Fifteen minutes afterward the staff officer leading the 
procession entered. Officers, officials and servants fell into line, and 
t^og0 seated gtood up and remained so to the end. Then the only sound 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 419 

was the slow tramp of troops forming the front position of the cortege, 
still marching in funeral step, with arms reversed, but who now 
marched in closer order. 

As each body passed the Queen's car rifles were brought to the 
salute, then shouldered, and the men breaking into double step passed 
quickly out the other end of the station. Presently the sweet, sad 
strains of Beethoven's most familiar funeral march and the low, thrill- 
ing roll of thirty muffled side drums penetrated the station. A little 
later the foreign attaches entered and drew up alongside the Guard of 
Honor, then the headquarters staff did likewise, and Earl Eoberts, 
attended by one aid, entered alone. 

Every hat was instinctively doffed and replaced, but there was not 
a sound save the footsteps of the troops leaving the far end of the 
station and that of the band still playing as they massed at the top 
platform. Then the Earl Marshal's party and his aids drew up by the 
headquarters staff. Earl Roberts alone having dismounted, stood carry- 
ing his baton near the King's carriage. 

As the gTin carriage entered, a strange hush fell upon the crowd, 
every hat was again removed, and the soldiers saluted until it was 
drawn up opposite to the funeral car. Then, when the King, with his 
regal and princely company had entered, there was for the first time^ 
and only for a few moments, a scene of bright kaleidoscopic movement. 
An army of silk-hatted, black-coated grooms rushed forward to lead 
every rider's charger, Kings, Princes, attaches, and aids dismounted, 
and in a moment the crimson-carpeted platform was covered with a 
brilliant, moving throng. 

In a few seconds, however, all were ranged about the King's saloon 
carriage. Then the state carriages entered. The Queen alighted first. 
She was saluted by all on the platform and the salute was maintained 
till the King had handed her into the cars. Then the other ladies 
rapidly passed into their saloon carriages, and next came the moving 
of the coffin. Its coverings were removed and the plain oak, brass- 
mounted casket stood in its simplicity upon the khaki-colored gun car- 
riage. 

At the moment the gun carriage entered the station the Queen's 
colors were drooped to the ground and the black-draped royal standard 
upheld. Then, with every hand to the salute, the bareheaded guards 
m^ household cavalrymen bore tjie coffin into tlie car. Within a minute 



420 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

every door of the train was closed on a party such as no train had ever 
before carried. Some officials gave a last brief inspection to every car, 
then the only person left on the platform was a bareheaded guard carry- 
ing a green flag and giving a look up and down the train. He dropped 
the flag, and slowly, silently, almost imperceptibly, the train moved 
out. 

Every eye followed it, every raised hat seemed to be instinctively 
held out toward its retreating form in mute farewell, bands ceased play- 
ing, and for a moment all was silence. No one moved or spoke. All 
seemed to realize that the capital of Victoria's world-wide empire had 
looked its last upon its best-loved monarch. The first sound to break 
the stillness was audible throughout the station. It was an ofl&cer^s 
sharp, though not loud, command, "Rais« the colors." Then the Guard 
of Honor marched briskly out and the strangely silent assemblage made 
its way into the busy, congested streets. 

It was just after 1 :30 o'clock when the train departed and Victoria, 
Queen and Empress, had made her last progress through the heart of 
her realm. 

A dense crowd of people who hoped to avoid the throngs in London 
by coming to Windsor had already made the streets impassable by 11 
o'clock, although it was at least three hours before the Queen's body 
would arrive. Purple and black draperies hung from thronged open 
windows, and all along the narrow, stone-paved, winding streets there 
were decorations. 

Crimson-cloaked Heavy Dragoons, finely mounted, were backing 
their horses toward the pavements to keep the crowd back along the 
line of march. The infantrymen had their arms stacked, and were 
gathered in groups awaiting the order to form. Yeomen of the Guard, 
in the beefeater's garb, with gorgeous tunics and red, padded hose, were 
passing along shivering, looking like stage supernumeraries. 

The funeral train arrived at 2:24 o'clock. A gunshot signaled the 
arrival of the cortege at Windsor, and thereafter minute guns were 
fired. The programme here was upset, owing to the restiveness of the 
horses attached to the gun-carriage. The long wait in the cold made 
th^m uneasy, and they became almost unmanageable in the station yard. 
There was only a slight delay, however. They were unharnessed, and 
the blue jackets, forming the Guard of Honor, took their places and 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 431 

hauled the gun-carriage on which rested the Queen's body the rest of the 
way to the castle. 

It was under gray, lowering skies that the Queen's body was drawn 
through High street to the gate of Windsor Park. The spectacle 
recalled something of the brief pageant from Osborne, but it was with- 
out the presence of Queen Alexandra and the royal Princesses. They 
were overwrought by the protracted solemnities, and entered carriages 
and drove direct from Windsor station to the castle, without traversing 
the funeral route. 

As the minute guns boomed from the castle walk a troop of mounted 
Life Guards in scarlet cloaks and white plumes moved like a glow of 
warmth through the bare street between the black, cold-benumbed 
crowds. Following them came three pursuivants-at-arms, with their 
long satin cloaks emblazoned with the design of the royal standard. 
The sight of gentlemen attired in the symbols of heraldry and medieval- 
ism recurred constantly in the slow-moving train. The foreign envoys 
wore resplendent uniforms. Major-General Pole Carew, in his General's 
uniform and marching afoot, led his staff in front of a deputation of 
ofiScers of the German cavalry regiment, of which the Queen was hon- 
orary Colonel. Following them, after a space, came Lord Roberts, 
walking alone, and holding a Field Marshal's baton. He was greeted 
as he passed with a hum of admiring attention. 

Earl Roberts walked with a fixed and sorrowful gaze. He made no 
response whatever to the salutations of the onlookers. Following him 
came the band of the Life Guards playing Beethoven's march, and pre- 
ceding the Duke of Norfolk as Earl Marshal of England with the cere- 
monial officers of England. 

The coffin, which the sailors were drawing to its journey's end, was 
covered with the same brilliant, yet solemn embroidery and insignia of 
the day before; the King and the Kaiser, with an increased number of 
Princes, walked silently behind, looking as though the end of their 
sorrowful duty would be a relief. The officers and their staffs following 
gave a resplendent, kaleidoscopic color to the scene. Every uniform in 
Europe mingled with Turkish, Japanese, and South Americans. Ambas- 
sador Choate, in plain black mourning, walked in the center of the front 
row of special envoys. 

The horses belonging to the gun-carriage followed at the end of th^ 
procession* They were cramped with cold while waiting, aad coliM not 



422 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

be moved from the station when the coffin was placed on the platform. 
They had been unyoked and the blue jackets, handy men to the last, 
fastened ropes to the gun-carriage, and a chain of outer men linking 
arms and helping those in the center, moved the carriage at a regular 
funeral pace to the Castle and entered the gates at 3 o'clock. 

The coffin was borne past the entire length of the Castle into the 
western entrance of the dimly lit St. George's Chapel. When the rows 
of pews, rising on either side of the nave nearly to the roof, were filled 
with splendidly attired royalties, special envoys, and their military and 
naval suites, it formed a picture of supreme grandeur. 

The chapel choir, the Archbishop, the Bishops, and other clergy met 
the procession at the west door. From the organ loft midway of the 
nave and the chancel came the strains of Mendelssohn's march from 
"Songs Without Words," in E minor. The sound of the organ died away, 
and the choir commenced singing softly the sentences for the dead. The 
solemn cortege proceeded up the nave, which was thronged with the 
highest and noblest women of England. "Lord, Thou Hast Been Our 
Eefuge," to Felton's setting, was next sung by the choir, which had 
now taken its place in the transept to the right of the altar. 

The coffin rested upon a catafalque placed at the steps of the altar. 
The cross over the communion table was covered with white flowers, 
and the reredos behind was almost concealed with sprays of fern dotted 
with lilies. 

The Bishop of Winchester read the lesson from the fifteenth chapter 
of Corinthians. "Man that is born of woman" was chanted by the choir 
to Wesley's music, followed by "Thou Knowest, Lord, the Secrets of Our 
Hearts." The Dean of Windsor read "I Heard a Voice," and the choir 
sang the Lord's Prayer to the music composed especially for the dead 
Queen by Gounod. Once more the strains of the choir welled up 
through the ancient chapel with the singing of "How Blessed Are Thej? 
That Die," by Tschaikowsky. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury read the Collect, and with quavering 
voice pronounced the benediction. There was a solemn pause while all 
heads bowed. A few sobs were heard, and the choir then broke the 
oppressive stillness with the sweet harmony of "The Dresden Amen." 

Then the loud tones of Norroy King-of-Arms, William Henry Wel- 
don, proclaimed the dead monarch's title. The Spohr anthem, "Blessed 
Are the Departed," follawed, and the service was concluded by the play- 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 423 

ing of Beethoven's funeral march by Sir Walter Parratt, organist of St. 
George's Chapel and private organist to the late Queen. 

The great east virindow of St. George's Chapel, with its faint stained 
figures, threw a soft light over this burial and worshiping place of 
Kings. Before each oaken stall glimmered the waxen taper that burns 
when Knights of the Garter worship there. Above their heads, resting 
upon the carved sabers of the stalls, were the special insignia of each 
knight, while hanging over this were the motionless banners bearing 
the strange devices of the members of this most powerful order. On 
each side of the chancel flamed two rows of candles, causing the gold 
and red of the knights to glitter. In somber contrast with these 
rows of lights and color sat the long line of Princesses and ladies-in- 
waiting, making a foreground of deepest black. On the altar two tapers 
burned, and within the rail on each side stood two large candelabra. 

The profusion of flowers which was displayed outside the chapel 
ceased within. On the chancel only a very few lilies and the most deli- 
cate green ferns were used for the altar decorations. There was no 
crepe anywhere. 

Among the early arrivals were Ministers and ex-Ministers in full 
state uniform, their breasts a mass of gold braid. All the members of 
the Cabinet took their seats in a row. Lord Salisbury followed, wearing 
a velvet skull cap and wrapped in an ordinary black overcoat. When 
this was taken off it revealed a plain uniform. The ladies-in-waiting, 
deeply veiled, took their seats on a long bench below the stalls. The 
first member of the diplomatic corps to arrive was the Turkish Ambas- 
sador. Long before the stalls were filled the nave was packed. It was 
here that the stands had been erected, and the chancel screen on the 
organ completely prevented several hundred in the nave from seeing 
what went on in the church. 

Now and again one of the gentlemen-at-arms, keeping on his huge 
helmet and gauntlets, his sword dangling at his heels, walked up to 
the quiet chancel to make some final arrangements. 

Lord Kosebery came in about 1:15 o'clock. The most of the diplo- 
matic corps occupied nearly two entire rows of stalls on the right of 
the chancel. The most noticeable, by reason of his brilliant robes, was 
the Chinese Minister. 

Baron Eckhardstein, the giant of the diplomatic corps, who was in 
attendance upon Count von Hatzgeldt-Wildenburg, the German Ambas- 



434 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

sador, towered above all others in the magnificent white and gold uni- 
form of the German army. The Haytien Minister, with his pitch-black 
face, formed a severe contrast to Count von Hatzgeldt, who sat next to 
him. The Ambassadors, Cabinet Ministers, Knights of the Garter, and 
the noble congregation waited patiently while the gentlemen-at-arms 
took up their stand at the chancel, immediately in front of the pitiful 
line of mourning women. In their right hands they carried halberds, 
and even against the brilliant background of the stalls these huge scar- 
let figures stood out conspicuously. 

From the courtyard came the sounds of sharp commands as the 
troops were brought to attention or were shifted to some better position. 
Two o'clock came, and the congregation was coughing uneasily. The 
long wait was trying. At 2 :15 o'clock Sir Walter Parratt, at the organ, 
commenced playing Mendelssohn's march in E minor from the "Songs 
Without Words." The Castle clock struck the half-hour, and the organ 
ceased. 

Quietly, with no heraldry, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop 
of Winchester, and the Dean of Windsor walked from the vestry down 
to the chancel. The nobles rose to their feet and remained standing. 
Behind the Bishops came the choir. 

The sound of the guns saluting was heard and silence fell on the 
assemblage. Ten minutes passed, and Sir Walter Parratt played softly. 
The white-haired statesmen, one by one, dropped into their seats. The 
strain was too much, and the diplomats followed suit. The music of 
the bands playing could be heard, first faintly and then nearer and 
nearer, until the majestic roll of the funeral march penetrated every 
corner of the chapel. For fifteen minutes the congregation listened to 
military bands outside. 

At 3 :20 p. m. the doors swung open. "I Am the Resurrection" was 
sung by the choir. SloAvly the white-robed boys made their way up the 
aisle. After the Archbishop of Canterbury came the white-rods, then 
the co-ffin, and then the equerries, carrying the pall and regalia. Grena- 
diers carried the coffin. 

Walking together came the King, Emperor William, and the Duke 
of Connaught. Beside them were the King of the Belgians, the King 
of Greece, and the King of Portugal, and after them came the royal 
Princes, who filled the chancel and aisles, and whose suites crowded 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. iZQ 

into the nave. Mr. Choate, in evening dress, entered with the procession 
and sat in the corner, near the Master of Ceremonies. 

The choir having passed to the right of the altar, and the Queen 
and Princesses having passed to their positions in the Queen's gallery, 
overlooking the altar, the service proceeded. The Archbishop stood at 
the altar steps, directly before the cofSn. On his left was the Bishop 
of Winchester, clad in scarlet robes, who read the regular lesson for the 
dead. 

As the benediction was pronounced the King and all i)resent bent 
their heads low. 

An impressive feature was the King-of- Arm's pronouncement of the 
titles of the deceased. Standing before the altar, he went through the 
old formula, ending up with "God save the King," delivered so force- 
fully and dramatically that his hearers started, stung into a realization 
of the change of regime which had so suddenly come about. 

At 4 o'clock service was over. The Archbishop of Canterbury bowed 
his head on the altar and prayed, and the Kings and Princes passed to 
the left of the altar, leaving the coffin and the catafalque, and passing 
into the Castle. 

A commemoration service was held at St. Paul's at 3 o'clock. The 
cathedral was full within fifteen minutes after the doors had been 
opened. The Lord Mayor and members of the corporation of the City 
of London, in their robes, representatives of the Royal Academy, the 
Academy of Music, and other societies privileged to use the prefix 
"royal," were present. A full band played Sullivan's "In Memoriam" 
overture, "O Rest in the Lord," and Beethoven's funeral march before 
the service, introducing the dead march in "Saul" at the end of the 
anthem. Twenty-three clergymen were present. Dean Gregory, who 
was born in 1819, preached the sermon. He referred in a broken voice 
to "those of us who have reached the Queen's age," and spoke of the 
changes during Victoria's reign. He thought an improvement had been 
made in every way, especially in moral life, thanks to the example of the 
Queen. The square around the cathedral was filled with people who 
were unable to enter and who waited to see the congregation disperse. 

The service at Westminster Abbey commenced at 2 o'clock, when 
crowds of people attempting to secure admission were restrained by the 
police outside the grounds. Canon Henson conducted a most impressive 
ceremony, consisting chiefly of solemn music and funeral marches. Sir 



426 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

Frederick Bridge accompanied a band whose brass instruments, with, 
the thunderous tones of the organ, in the dead march in "Saul," awoke 
every corner of the old Abbey and found a sympathetic echo in every 
heart. This was evidenced by the tearful faces of many women. The 
congregations at the Abbey and at St. Paul's were in the deepest mourn- 
ing, occasionally relieved by oflftcers in uniform. No whisper or move- 
ment disturbed the solemn occasion. 

In every town and village throughout the United Kingdom business 
was stopped, shades were drawn down, the public buildings were 
draped, and there were services for the dead in the cathedrals and in all 
the Anglican and in many of the non-conformist churches. Some half a 
hundred individuals and societies at Birmingham, in a snowstorm, piled 
up wreaths of flowers at the foot of Queen Victoria's statue. 

At Manchester the civic body and leading men marched in procession 
through the principal thoroughfares to the cathedral services. The non- 
conformist bodies at the same time held a great memorial meeting in 
Free Trade Hall, while others attended overflow meetings. 

In Dublin the Lord Mayor and thirteen of the corporation, robed, 
with the Judges and other notable persons, went to St. Patrick's cathe- 
dral. This building and most of the Protestant churches were draped 
with purple, edged with gold. 

At Leeds the street-railway men held a midnight meeting and deter- 
mined not to work that day, as they had been requested to do. An 
imposing service was held at Edinburgh, in St. Giles' Cathedral. 

The late Queen's retainers at Balmoral and the people of the coun- 
tryside generally toiled through the snow-bound roads to a service held 
at Crathie parish church, which was attended by the Queen when stay- 
ing at Balmoral, 

Cable dispatches from all parts of the Empire gave details of similar 
observances. Everywhere there was a suspension of business. Foreign 
countries were not behind the British colonies in mourning Queen Vic- 
toria. From all parts of the world came cable reports that the day was 
commemorated by special services, some of which were of an official 
character. 

At Lisbon the day was one of national mourning and throughout 
Portugal flags were half-masted, the ships and forts firing guns at 
fifteen minute intervals. At night a salute of twenty-one guns was fired 
and the theaters were closed. 




•*f^,;? 











THF F.ND OF THE QUEEN'S LAST JOURNEY: THE PROCESSION LEAVING 

WINDSOR FOR FROGMORE. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 439 

At Teheran an impressive service in the Protestant church was 
attended by the Princes, Grand Vizier, Ministers, high officials, diplo- 
matic corps, and all the Europeans. In Jerusalem a service was held in 
St. George's Church. The consuls and local authorities attended in 
uniform. From Dresden, Trieste, Tangier, Port Said, Funchal, Copen- 
hagen, Madrid, Calcutta, Shanghai, Bombay, Rome, Vienna, and scores 
of other points the same story was repeated. In every case the services 
were attended by the local authorities and representatives of the courts. 

In the presence of a distinguished assemblage in Washington, includ- 
ing the President of the United States and his entire Cabinet, impressive 
tribute was rendered to England's dead Queen. The ceremony occurred 
at St. John's Episcopal Church, beginning at 11 o'clock Saturday morn- 
ing, and was distinctly official in character. The British Ambassador, 
Lord Pauncefote, had been directed by the London Foreign Office to 
bestow this last mark of respect to the dead sovereign, and the time was 
chosen so as to correspond exactly with the solemn pageant in London 
as the mother of rulers was borne to Windsor. 

The quaint old church where the services were held was taxed to its 
utmost capacity with a great crowd eager to gain admission. Long 
before the hour for the services to begin the surrounding streets were 
packed with people, some bearing cards of admission, and many more 
without cards, content to get a glimpse of the distinguished personages 
present. The church had been elaborately prepared for the occasion. 
Within the sanctuary were great masses of flowers with tall palms and 
potted plants, and purple badges of mourning, purple being the pre- 
dominant color of mourning, instead of somber black, in accordance 
with the precedent established in London. 

On each side of the altar the tall pillars were wrapped in purple, 
with great scarfs of purple entwining sheaves of laurel and palm. Both 
the altar and the chancel Tails were looped with purple, and at either 
hand long streamers of purple held massive clusters of white lilies and 
palms. Over this profusion of color fell a flood of soft sunlight, reflected 
through the rich stained-glass windows back and at each side of the 
chancel. 

President McKinley and members of his Cabinet arrived shortly 
before 11 o'clock, and were escorted to seats on the right of the church, 
immediately fronting the chancel. With the President sat Secretaries 
Hay, Gage and Root, while back of them were Secretaries Long, Hitch- 



THM IMP^RESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

•ock and Wilson, Attorney General Griggs and Postmaster General 
Smith. Chief Justice Fuller and the associate Justices of the United 
States Supreme Court occupied pews immediately to the rear of the 
Presidential party, while to the right were ranged Senators and mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives, including the presiding of&cer of 
the Senate, Mr. Frye, and Speaker Henderson. 

The presence of the diplomatic corps in full uniform lent a touch of 
brilliancy to the otherwise somber surroundings. Lord Pauncefote was 
in the full uniform of his high diplomatic office, w^ith a black band about 
his left arm, and a knot of crepe on the hilt of his sword. He was accom- 
panied by Lady Pauncefote, and the Hon. Misses Pauncefote, and by the 
many members of the Embassy staff, including Lieutenant Colonel 
Kitson in the brilliant scarlet uniform of His Majesty's service, and 
Captain Baily, in the uniform of the royal navy. Each of the British 
officials wore a heavy band of crepe about the left arm. The British 
Embassy officials occupied seats fronting the chancel, and just to the 
left of the President. 

Acros* the aisle sat the French Ambassador, M. Cambon; the Rus- 
sian Ambassador, Count Cassini; the German Ambassador, Dr. von 
HoUeben; the Italian Ambassador, Baron Fava, and the Mexican 
Ambassador, Senor Aspiroz, each in the full uniform of Ambassadorial 
rank. Back of them were ranged the Ministers of various countries, 
including the Duke d'Arcos, the Spanish Minister, the Turkish Minis- 
ter and his suite, all wearing the characteristic red fez, and the Chinese 
Minister and members of his staff in their rich Oriental silks. 

No less resplendent was the representation from the United States 
army and navy. Half-way back sat Lieutenant General Miles and 
Admiral Dewey, accompanied by their large staffs, wearing the uni- 
forms of high rank. Back of them were ranged many Admirals, Gen- 
erals, and officers of lesser rank. An added military aspect to the 
occasion was given by the presence of army and navy officers in full 
uniform, acting as, ushers. 

At 11 o'clock the soft strains of the organ and the distant sound of 
the processional hymn floated through the edifice, and with measured 
tread the white-robed choir boys entered the sanctuary, singing "For 
All Thy Saints." Following them came the many church officials, taking 
part in the ceremony, including Bishop Henry Y. Satterlee, D. D., 
Bishop of Washington; Dr. Alexander Mackay-Smith, rector of the 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 431 

Church of the Epiphany, and the Rev. Ernest M. Paddock, acting chap- 
lain to the Bishop. The service was that of the Church of England for 
the burial of the dead. 

The lesson, taken from First Corinthians, was read by Dr. Mackay- 
Smith, and Dr. Paddock led in the intoning of the prayers. At the 
conclusion of the prayers Bishop Satterlee stepped forward to the 
chancel rail, and in impressive tones delivered an address on Victoria. 

Bishop Satterlee said in part: 

"This is a memorable moment in the annals of history. 

"As the church bells are tolling the eleventh hour in England this 
day, the solemn funeral rites of England's Queen for three score years 
are being held amid the hush of a nation's silence; and at the same 
hour, as the sun circles round the earth, all through the British Empire 
and wherever else a Church of England service is held, the same office 
for the burial of the dead is being said. 

"It is as though the funeral at Windsor to-day were a mirror in which 
we behold ten thousand other passing scenes; as though the service 
there were echoed over land and sea, while the voice of a great multi- 
tude, like the sound of many waters, rises up from earth to heaven. 
And at each of these myriad services human lips are uttering the same 
devotional words, human souls are breathing the same prayers, and 
human hearts are bowed down with the same deep sense of loss — the 
loss, as it were, of a personal friend. She was one with her people in 
their lives; she is now one with them in her death; one with them in 
her hope of a joyful resurrection, and all her Christian people feel that 
as she was faithful unto death, so the Lord shall give unto her a crown 
of life. For the w^orld is a better world for the Queen's life as a servant 
of God. 

"There are some characters so pure, so true, and unselfish in their 
unaffected simplicity, that they belong not only to their own country, 
but to the world at large. Something is there in the quality of their 
lives which enriches human history and makes stronger our faith in 
human nature itself. 

"Such was Queen Victoria. To the English nation Her Majesty, with 
the scepter of the British Empire in her hand, was first the sovereign, 
then the woman. 

"England has had many illustrious sovereigns, from William the 
Conqueror down, whose signal victories, powers of administration, and 



433 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

gifts of leadership shine resplendent on the pages of history; but where 
among them all do we find another whose reign has been such an inspir- 
ation to all that was noble and true in the hearts of the nation, or one 
who was as loving, as just as that gracious, beloved British sovereign 
whose burial we are solemnizing this day? In her life as a Queen she 
showed the world that even on a royal throne character is the noblest 
of all human possessions. 

"Very characteristic and full of deep significance now — in a moment 
like this, when her whole life is being lived over again in the memory of 
others — is that familiar tale which is told of her earlier days. 

"When it was first announced to her that she was to be England's 
Queen the reply sprang instantaneously to her lips, 'I will be good.' 

"And afterward, when one of the Princes of India asked the young 
Queen the cause of England's power and greatness, she placed a Bible 
in his hand and said: 'The source of England's greatness is there.' And 
happy will the Kings and Queens of the future be if, drinking in the 
inspiration of her life, their people, in coming days and centuries, will 
rejoice to compare their reigns with that of the good Queen Victoria." 

Dr. McKim read the burial ritual of the Episcopal Church, and 
Bishop Satterlee pronounced the benediction. Then, as the choristers 
moved from the sanctuary singing the "Recessional'' hymn, the Presi- 
dent and his party and the distinguished assemblage quietly withdrew, 
and the impressive tribute to England's Queen was at an end. 

Memorial services for Queen Victoria filled Trinity Church in New 
York to the doors, while over 6,000 people were turned away. All the 
members of the consular corps of th: city were present in full uniform. 
The service in Trinity was preceded by one in the crypt of the Cathedral 
of St. John, at which Bishop Potter officiated. 

When the organ pealed forth the first strains of Chopin's funeral 
march, in the opening voluntary, there was not an unoccupied seat in 
the church, and the aisles were crowded with men and women. 

Major General Brooke, commanding the Department of the East, 
United States army, and his staff, occupied a front pew, opposite the one 
occupied by Sir Percy Sanderson and his staff. They wore full dress 
uniforms. Among others present were Admiral Barker, United States 
navy, and Andrew Carnegie. 

The Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, rector of Trinity Church, led in the pro- 
cession. Among the officiating clergymen were the Most Rev. John T, 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 433 

Lewis, Archbishop of Ontario and metropolitan; Bishop Worthington 
of Nebraska; the Rev. Parker Morgan, D. D., and the Rev. E. Walpole 
Warren. The lesson was read by the Rev. Parker Morgan, rector of the 
Church of Heavenly Rest. The apostles' creed and the prayers were 
chanted by the Rev. E. Walpole Warren. The closing prayers were 
offered by the Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix. The Archbishop of Ontario pro- 
nounced the benediction. 

Memorial services, touching and appropriate, were conducted by the 
Episcopal clergy of Chicago at St. James' Episcopal Church Saturday 
afternoon in memory of Queen Victoria. Nearly the entire civilized 
world was represented at the service to do honor to the memory of 
England's Queen. 

The Episcopal burial service in its entirety, and with all the solem- 
nity and simplicity that makes the service one of the most touching and 
beautiful, was followed. The lesson was read by the Rev. Joseph Rush- 
ton, the city missionary for the church. The burial service and address 
was read and delivered by the rector, the Rev. J. S. Stone, D. D. The 
prayers and benediction were uttered by the Rev. C. P. Anderson, bishop 
coadjutor, who represented Bishop McLaren. 

The tribute paid by the Rev. Dr. Stone in his address left but few 
dry eyes in the assemblage. At the close, faint sounds of sobs explained 
that many in the congregation felt and remembered all that had been 
said by the rector of their former country-woman and Queen. The Rev. 
Dr. Stone said in part: 

"At this service your presence is a tribute of respect not only to the 
grief of an empire, but also to the memory of a Queen. The grief is pro- 
found, the memory is sacred; and with both, in every nation, and espe- 
cially in this country, many are in sympathy. The British Empire has 
lost a monarch; the world has lost a friend. The magnitude of that 
loss may be realized by the expressions of sorrow which from all parts 
of the world have been as affectionate as they were spontaneous. A 
pure and noble spirit has gone from among men; an influence that the 
nations recognize was ever for good and never for ill; a genius that 
ranks high among earth's princes. 

'^The world has suffered a loss. To her people she will be remem- 
bered as all that is noble. Britain stands disconsolate. Sister nations 
take her by the hand and sympathize. Victoria's crown now rests on 



434 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

the brow of Edward VII. In fullest sympathy America to-day joins in 
with the world in saying, 'God save the King.' " 

The opera quarter of Paris on Saturday resembled London on a 
Sunday. All the shops had their shutters up and this gave a melan- 
choly appearance to this usually gay quarter. The flags were becreped 
everywhere and were at half mast on the official buildings while great 
numbers of the people were dressed in mourning. At 11 o'clock the 
official services in the English church in the Rue d'Aguessau were held 
in the exact form of the services at St. Paul's in London. The church 
was elaborately draped, the entire facade being of sable arches, while 
the church bore the insignia, "V. R. I.," with the royal arms on a back- 
ground. The interior was similarly decorated. 

There was a distinguished attendance. M. Combarieu represented 
President Loubet. Madame Loubet was also present, as well as Gen- 
eral Zurlinden, Prince Bonaparte, Admirals Givas and Duperre, Gen- 
eral Andre, President Fallieres of the Senate, President Deschanel of 
the Chamber of Deputies, Premier Waldeck-Rousseau, most of the mem- 
bers of the Ministry, United States Ambassador Porter and Mrs. Porter, 
and most of the diplomatic corps. 

In the afternoon, at the same church, services were held by the 
English colony. The church was packed. At 5 o'clock services were 
held in the American church in the Avenue de I'Alma, for the American 
colony. The United States Ambassador and Mrs. Porter attended. 

All over Canada there were demonstrations of mourning for Queen 
Victoria. At Ottawa, the headquarters of the civil government, services 
were held, attended by the Governor General, the officials, and repre- 
sentatives of the people. In every city of any size, from Halifax to Van- 
couver, buildings and stores were draped in the mourning colors, black 
and purple and white, and religious services were held by all denomina- 
tions. 

Halifax, being the military headquarters in British North Anierica, 
was the chief city of mourning in Canada. In many of the churches 
services were held and the bells were tolled. The chief interest centered 
in the military exercises at the garrison chapel, which were attended 
with great pomp. Colonel Riscoe, commanding the forces in British 
North America, attended by the officers of the staff, paid tribute to the 
dead sovereign, and the Episcopalian soldiers of the garrison were also 
in attendance. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 435 

At St. Paul's the Lieutenant Governor, representatire of the King, 
accompanied by a staff of officers, attended services.. The Bishop of 
Nova Scotia paid a tribute to the memory of the Queen. 

Solemn high mass was celebrated in the Roman Catholic Cathedral, 
the Roman Catholic soldiers of the garrison being in attendance. In 
the evening eighty-one guns were fired at the citadel, the last one just 
at sunset, and, in accordance with the wish of the King, the fortress 
flags were kept at half-mast until after the following Tuesday. 

Memorial services were held in the English church at St. Peters- 
burg, Russia. The British Ambassador, Sir Charles Scott, received the 
Czar, Czarina and Dowager Czarina in the corridor, and among those 
present were all the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, all the leading 
members of the aristocracy, and the diplomatic corps, including the 
United States Ambassador, Charlemagne Tower, who was accompanied 
by Mrs. Tower. The Czar wore the insignia of the Order of the Garter. 

Services were held in the British- American dissident church. The 
Czar and Czarina and a distinguished company attended the memorial 
services held in the English- American church in honor of the Queen. 

All the English business houses were closed in Brussels as a mark 
of respect to the Queen. There was a memorial service at the Chnrck 
of the Resurrection, which was largely attended. The British Minister, 
Edmund C. Phipps, with his staff, the foreign diplomats and representa- 
tives of Senate and Chamber were present. The Count and C<!)uiites» of 
Flanders represented the royal family at a service in Antwerp, which 
was attended by the civil and military authorities. 

There were two memorial services for the Queen in Berlin. One for 
the diplomatic corps, for which invitations were issued by the court, 
was held in St. George's Church at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and the 
other, for English residents and visitors, was held at the same place 
an hour later. The Emperor was represented at the first service by 
Chancellor von Buelow. Ambassador White and the attaches of the 
American embassy also attended, in compliance with instructions from 
Washington. 

Rarely, if ever, has such a superb collection of magnificent wreaths 
been seen as that which arrived at Windsor. The limited supply of 
lilies of the valley, arums and white roses nearly rati oxit, m^ th» weart 
end florists charged abnormally higli prieWB fttr -iSSi Jiw w^fpcrps^s^ 
flowers left. The ITnited States was Well r«'pi''§^iit*cl in fh^yk ^^91 



43G THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

designs. The wreath sent by President McKinley was described by 
experts as a most chaste and lovely offering. Its diameter was eight 
feet and it signified, by its unbroken contour, a full and perfect life. 
The American Ambassador sent a cross seven feet in height, made 
wholly of lilies of the valley. The English people, bearing in mind that 
when President Garfield was assassinated, the Queen sent a message of 
sympathy to his widow, were touched by the fact that Mrs. Garfield in 
her turn sent a wreath to Windsor. The inscription on a white ribbon 
was : 

"From Mrs. Garfield, in grateful remembrance of the Queen's kind- 
ness to her." 

Hundreds of people poured into Windsor during the morning hours 
on Monday, and by one o'clock the long walk was black with spectators, 
mostly from the surrounding country, waiting for a last glimpse of the 
coffin containing the remains of Queen Victoria. The sun was shining 
brightly. 

The representatives of royal families arrived from London about 1 
o'clock and drove to Windsor Castle. The streets of the old town were 
still hung with wreaths, sadly faded since Saturday. The stores were 
closed during the interment. 

Dismounted Life Guardsmen in their scarlet cloaks, the white 
plumes of their helmets glistening in the sun, kept the route clear from 
the Castle slope. Amid the bare boughs of trees below the mist arose 
from the damp earth, trampled into mud by the uneasy few thousands. 
The air was sharp and cold. 

From the Albert Memorial Chapel to the mausoleum, nearly a mile 
from the great gate of the Castle, there is a steep slope of five hundred 
yards, at the bottom of which is the lodge gate and a fence. On the 
Castle side of this were hundreds of ticket holders. On the other side, 
where the long walk commences, the public was massed. 

At 2:45 p. m. a picturesque touch of color was added to the scene. 
Sir Walter Parratt, private organist to the late Queen and organist of 
St. George's Chapel Royal, Windsor, and his choir, a:ll in surplices and 
college caps, walked quickly down the slope, through the crowds to the 
mausoleum. - 

Then minute guns commenced to boom, as a battery of artillei^ at 
the foot of the long walk paid its final honors to the dead Queen. The 
Windsor church bells tolled solemnly and the' strains of the band, 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 437 

gradually growing stronger and stronger, echoed from the Castle quad- 
rangle. 

At 3 :15 p. m. the head of the procession passed slowly out of King 
George's arch in the following order: 

The Queen's Company of Grenadier Guards, with Arms Reversed. 
The Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle, the Duke of Argyll. 

Highlanders and Pipers. 

Royal Servants. 

Band of the Grenadier Guards. 

The Bishop of Winchester and the Dean of Windsor. 

The Lord Chamberlain and the Lord Steward. 

The gun carriage, with the coffin, supported by the late Queen's 

equerries and household, flanked by the same officers as appeared in 

Saturday's ceremony in London. 

Close behind walked the King, Emperor William and the Duke of 
Connaught, wearing dark military overcoats and plumed cocked hats, 
and looking pale and careworn. In similar dull attire were the Kings of 
Portugal and Belgium. All heads were bent. The blue and gray of the 
German Princes redeemed the royal group from perfect somberness of 
color. 

Behind these walked Queen Alexandra and the royal Princesses, 
deeply veiled. The Queen carried an umbrella, but the others had their 
hands folded. As the last trio of these veiled women passed out from 
the Castle there came two boys dressed in bright tartan kilts and velvet 
jackets. Between them was a young girl, her fair loose hair glittering 
against the crepe of her mourning. Two of these were children of Prin- 
cess Henry of Battenberg, and the other was little Prince Edward of 
York. His tiny legs could hardly keep pace even with the slow progress 
of the mourning band. 

The rear of the procession was brought up by the suites of the Kings 
and Princes, their vari-colored overcoats forming a striking patch of 
color. 

Down the long walk, with the band still playing Chopin's dirge, this 
quiet throng slowly made its way to the mausoleum. The horses 
attached to the gun carriage were inclined to be restive, but as an extra 
precaution, a drag of ropes was attached to the wheels and held by 
sturdy artillerymen. At the lodge gates the strains of the band died 



438 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

away, and the pipers began their lament. There, between the broad 
avenue of stately trees, the crowds were the thickest, forming dense 
black banks. 

By 3:30 p. m. the bier had passed into the other lodge, which leads 
to the Frogmore inclosure, where none but the family and servants were 
admitted. The choir met them and the royal family and their relatives 
entered the burial place so dear to the late Queen, ranging themselves 
on each side of the coffin. 

The coffin was borne from the gun carriage by the Grenadiers, the 
pipers ceased their dirge, and the choir, moving forward, began to sing, 
"Yet, Though I Walk Through the Valley Before." 

Entering the mausoleum they sang, "Man That Is Born of Woman." 
While the royal family took their places around the coffin the dome of 
Victoria's tomb re-echoed with the sad strains of "Lord, Thou Knowest." 

The Bishop of Winchester, standing on the platform surrounding the 
marble figure of the Prince Consort, on which rested the Queen's coffin, 
read the committal prayer and the Lord's Prayer. Then the choir sang 
"Sleep Thy Last Sleep," the Dean said the Collect, the choir broke forth 
into the anthem, "The Pace of Death Is Turned Toward the Sun of Life," 
and, with hands outstretched over the congregation, the Bishop of Win- 
chester pronounced the benediction. 

A short, solemn silence followed, broken by the sweet cadence of 
Stainer's "Amen," and then King Edward and Emperor William, the 
visiting Kings and the Queen and Princesses filed before the bier and 
passed out to their carriages. 

The funeral ceremonials filled the newspapers with eulogies of the 
dead Queen's character, praise for her reign, and sorrow for her demise. 
The civilized world expressed its grief in universal mourning, and not 
even in England was sorrow more sincerely manifested over this 
calamity to the British race than in the United States. Statesmen, 
clergymen, journalists, and men and women of every station and every 
calling in life bore testimony to her worth as a woman and a Queen. 
Many of these eulogies are quoted in a previous chapter of this work, 
and following others may be found which show the universal regard 
in which England's greatest Queen was held, and the respect that was 
shown to her memory. 

Justin McCarthy, in a specially written forecast of "The New Reign 
in England/' sai4 in part : 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 439 

"It is not too much to say of Victoria that she was the first constitu- 
tional monarch who ever sat on the throne of England. 

"Victoria was a woman whose every action in her public and private 
life appears to have been guided by a strict sense of duty. Her ideas 
were always exalted and expanded. She made it her business to study 
carefully every question submitted for her decision, and her knowledge 
of political affairs at home and abroad was both wide and accurate. 
She was, above all things, a constitutional sovereign — that is to say, 
while she expressed her own views and endeavored so far as she fairly 
could to impress her own judgment upon her constitutional advisers, 
she always yielded in the end to the decision of those who were for the 
time the accredited representatives of Parliament and the people. 

"We all know now and have known for a long time, on the authority 
of documents published and authenticated volumes, that in more than 
one great crisis her judgment was proved by the course of events to be 
right and that of her constitutional advisers to be wrong. We know, 
for instance, in the case of the Crimean war, the policy which she recom- 
mended has been now set down by the judgment of history as the right 
policy; and not merely was she right in the opinion at which she 
arrived, but her reasons for holding that opinion have found their justi- 
fication in subsequent events. 

"But the Queen nevertheless acted in the true spirit of a constitu- 
tional sovereign w^hen she allowed her own judgment to be overborne 
for the time by those whom a majority of the people had, under the 
existing system, declared to be the accredited representatives of the 
national will. 

"To take another illustration, the Queen undoubtedly was right 
when at the opening of the great American Civil War she set herself 
steadily against the unfriendly and even hostile policy which some of 
the leading members of the government were inclined to pursue towards 
the Federal States. The Queen's advice found on that occasion so much 
support from the most enlightened members of the Cabinet that she 
was able to make her judgment prevail and thus avert a calamitous 
quarrel between the two great English-speaking communities." 

A. E. Stevenson, former Vice-President of the United States: "The 
tidings of the death of Queen Victoria will be received with deep regret 
throughout the British realm and the world. In the highest sense hers 
was an exemplary life. It will stand In history in marked contrast to 



440 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

that of many who have preceded her in the great office. Her reign 
marks an epoch in English history. For two-thirds of a century she has 
been in name the sovereign of Great Britain. The fact, however, remains 
that she has reigned, but not ruled. Governmental authority has grad- 
ually passed from palace and throne to the hall where sit in delibera- 
tion the chosen representatives of the people." 

Lord Pauncefote, British Ambassador: "The many expressions of 
sympathy which have come to this Embassy during the past trying 
days are fully appreciated. This feeling is natural when it is consid- 
ered that Queen Victoria has been the guiding spirit of the almost num- 
berless efforts for the advancement of her people at home a^nd the bet- 
terment of conditions for multitudes under her sway beyond the limits 
of her home islands. To those who have the distinction of knowing the 
venerated Queen her loss is something inexpressible. Those who have 
served her have priceless treasures in remembering her kindliness, her 
encouragement and benignant disposition to reward with more than 
generosity the smallest personal or national service." 

General Nelson A. Miles: "Her reign, considering the history of the 
past sixty years, the important political events that have occurred, the 
progress made by the whole world, the part that Great Britain has 
played in the progress and the influence its sovereign has constantly 
exercised upon the affairs of the world, is the most remarkable in the 
history of any country. 

"As to the Queen and her soldiers, there has ever been a close rela- 
tionship between the Queen and her military forces, both army and 
navy. One need not be told of the deep affection of the British soldiers 
and sailors for the Queen after having noted the loyalty and devotion 
displayed wherever an English soldier or sailor is to be seen. This 
affection is reciprocated by the Queen. Thus her influence is felt all 
through the army and navy." 

Eobert T. Lincoln, formerly United States Minister at London: 
"Queen Victoria was one of the wisest women — probably the wisest 
woman — that ever lived. I do not mean to say that she was a genius, 
but her great gift of common sense, re-enforced by her vast store of 
knowledge, enabled her to counsel men and women of all classes and 
conditions with wisdom that couM not be excelled." 

Bishop Potter is quoted as saying: "No human being who has lived 
in the last eighty-two years has exercised so enduring or remarkable an 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 441 

influence on the world as she. Like Washington, it was her person- 
ality, the influence of character, that achieved this result. You read of 
Napoleon, the most brilliant figure in history, but you read with increas- 
ing loathing of a man so cruel, so base, as he. It is therefore not great 
gifts that make the great character. 

"It is what one does, what one is, that counts with such a character 
as Washington or Victoria. To paraphrase the famous words of Nelson, 
the Queen did her duty without faltering or failure. She was always 
womanly, pure, patient and devoted to duty." 

Edwin D. Mead: "There are two Englands — ^the England which has 
led the world in the struggle for free institutions and the world's 
efficient organization, and the England of selfishness, and greed, and 
grab, the England which at this moment is our 'kin in sin.' Queen 
Victoria has represented the true England. All through her reign she 
has warred against war. She has been emphatically the Queen of 
Peace, and that is the thing which will be remembered preeminently in 
her honor." 

M. M. Mangasarian : "A sister nation is mourning to-day the death 
of her great sovereign, Queen Victoria. As a Republic we extend to the 
most republican monarchy in the world our generous and sincere sym- 
pathy. We weep with the English over the misfortune which has 
befallen them. It is too early to pass a judgment upon the character 
and moral influence of Victoria. As yet we have not the data necessary 
to form a just and impartial valuation. Later, when we shall be given 
free access to the facts, we shall be able to assign to this illustrious 
mother Queen, this most remarkable and unique personage in English 
annals, her rightful place in history." 

The Rev. Albert Lazenby: "In vain shall we seek for her like among 
the great women of history, ancient or modern, sacred or profane, for 
she was distinguished neither by inspiration nor by valor; she has taken 
men neither by cleverness nor by guile; she has done no black deeds. 
She has never come to the front to guide or control popular movements. 
She has been a good woman, good in all the relations of her manifold 
life, as wife, as mother, as a sovereign." 

The Rev. H. W. Thomas : "The long and beautiful life of England's 
dying Queen has honored the home, honored wifehood and motherhood 
and honored woman in every land. During our war for independence 
there were not a few friends of the American cause in the English 



442 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

Parliament, and had the severe rule of George III. continued much 
longer Great Britain would have followed her daughter as a republic. 
When Victoria took the throne the people were on the way to power. 
Personal government was giving place to constitutional monarchy, and 
during her reign there has been one long growth of the spirit of democ- 
racy. Sad it is that a reign so largely beneficent should pass out under 
the cloud that now envelops the Empire. The world she has helped 
to make better will mourn her loss." 

Bishop Samuel Fallows : "The shadow of a great sorrow is over the 
British nation. Queen Victoria is dying and a mighty empire is in tears. 
She has nobly fulfilled during her long and eventful reign the promise 
she made when first saluted as England's Queen, 'I will be good.' Her 
goodness was the secret of her marvelous greatness. The heart of the 
American people beats in profound sympathy with the heart of the 
English people as they bid a final farewell to the venerable and vener- 
ated sovereign who cherished such an affectionate regard for Americans 
and who delighted always to conspicuously honor them on all suitable 
occasions." 

Cardinal Gibbons: "The death of Queen Victoria will send a thrill 
of sorrow throughout the world, not only because of the almost univer- 
sal diffusion of the British Empire, but still more because of the domes- 
tic virtues of the woman whose long and eventful reign will be ever 
memorable in the annals of England and whose character will com- 
mand the love of her subjects and the admiration of the civilized world." 
Equally impressive were the tributes of the press, from which we quote 
a few: 

"It is to the glory of Victoria that she was in sympathy with the 
progressive statesmanship of her time; that her heart was on the side 
of humanity and civilization; that she encouraged and welcomed poli- 
cies designed for the better government of her people and the advance- 
ment of their welfare. If she could not prevent war her spirit and 
example were for peace." — ^New York Herald. 

"She was too wise to stand in the way of the gratification of the 
wishes of her people, or to attempt to obstruct the tendency in the direc- 
tion of liberalism and democracy. Perhaps her greatness is revealed in 
nothing more clearly than in her frank acceptance of the new without 
altogether letting go of the old." — Indianapolis News. 

"Nobody will ever speak of 'Victoria the Great,' but her virtues have 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 443 

given her a right to a better title — 'Victoria the well-beloved/ And in 
earning that name she has rendered the best possible service to the 
English monai'chy. In a stronger grasp the frail scepter might have 
snapped — her soft hand held it safe and passed it on unharmed to her 
successor.'- — New York Journal. 

"As the sovereign who came to the throne a young girl and whose 
life has been from that day an open book without a blot on its personal 
record; as the wife and mother whose joys and sorrows were known to 
and sympathized in by the wives and mothers of the whole land; as the 
Queen who purged the English court of the scandals that had stained 
it for generations and made purity an essential to her countenance, 
Victoria won the affections of her own people of all ranks." — Cleveland 
Plain Dealer. 

"Except for a brief sojourn every year at Windsor she has been a 
stranger to the metropolitans and cosmopolitans of London. But out- 
side the social pale the influences exerted by the Queen for good have 
been far-reaching. The moral purity and simplicity of her life have had 
a powerful elf ect in shaping the ideals of the large middle class element. 
The very qualities which made the glare of London repugnant to her 
have endeared her to the British masses." — Philadelphia Record. 

"Her reign was more personal than political and more domestic than 
either. She was always conservative and careful, looking after the 
interests of a vast empire as a prudent woman looks after a household. 
She kept the name of kings and queens in good repute." — Memphis Com- 
mercial-Appeal. 

"Queen Victoria by her genuine good qualities, her devotedness to 
duty in every sphere, the noble example she has set as daughter, wife, 
mother and ruler, won the largest place in the heart of humanity ever 
held or filled by a female sovereign." — ^Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune. 

"Victoria was wise in that she always recognized the popular will 
and called into her service the representatives of popular adoration. 
Under Victoria democratic government in England has become a fact. 
No future monarch can withdraw the precedents by which she acknowl- 
edged parliamentary supremacy and emphasized the responsibility of 
ministerial rule." — Atlanta Constitution. 

"On the material side of British progress she has played a negative 
part, while on the spiritual side her influence has been distinctly, almost 



444 THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 

aggressively, positive, and both have been almost equally conducive to 
the welfare of her people." — Indianapolis Press. 

"The regal state and the sceptered race strike the imagination, but 
the homely virtues of Victoria, her maternal love, her lifelong, touch- 
ing devotion to the memory of the Prince Consort, the picture of domes- 
tic felicity in which she is represented as the central and venerable 
figure, appeal to the common heart." — Philadelphia Ledger. 

"Americans owe her no allegiance, but they will not withhold from 
her a tribute of respect. They cannot forget that she has set before her 
people and the world the noble example of a pure and blameless life and 
gilded her throne with all womanly virtues. It is the greatest of her 
distinctions that she leaves her country better for having ruled over it 
and the world better for having lived in it." — Baltimore Sun. 

"There is something profoundly pathetic in the brave struggle which 
this infirm old woman made to remain at her post of duty as the ruler 
of a vast empire at a time when privacy and seclusion would have been 
most welcome. It is only another example of the sacrifices which are 
inevitably associated with great power and lofty honors." — Kansas City 
Star. 

"Her natural successor is a man of kindly impulses who loves his 
country and its people, and in an unostentatious way has done much for 
both; so it is probable that Victoria the woman will be mourned even 
more than Victoria the Queen." — Boston Transcript. 

"Actively interested though she has been in all great affairs it is 
probable that the statesmen with whom she has consulted would say, 
if the dead were living and if the living could speak, that the necessity 
of asking her advice has been much more often a help than a hindrance 
to them in carrying on their work." — Milwaukee Sentinel. 

"Arduous though her official duties were, and however brilliant the 
glamour cast around her reign, the world will remember her best for 
those qualities which every woman can possess. Whatever is best in 
womanhood is exemplified in her life." — St. Louis Republic. 

"The fierce light that beats upon a throne and that brings into 
clearest relief all the 'peering littlenesses' which occasionally tenant 
monarch's breasts, shed its strongest rays for over sixty years upon the 
private as well as the public life of the Queen, and has not at any time 
found her wanting in any capacity, whether as Queen, wife, mother or 
woman." — New Orleans Times-Democrat. 




KING EDWARD VII.'S FIRST ACT OF GOVERNMENT: HIS MAJESTY SUB- 
SCRIBING THE OATH FOR THE SECURITY OF THE CHURCH 

OF SCOTLAND. 






"' - - 'l 







fj 




^ i. Kino Edward VII. S, Empbess Fbedebick. 3, Pbincess Cheistian of Schleswig-Holstein. 4, Dcchbss 
OF Abgylu 5, Duke of Connaught. 6, Princess Heney of Battenbebg. 7, German Emperor. 8, Dukb o» 
YOBK. 9. Prince Heney of Prussia. 10, Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein. 11^ Grand Duke of Hessb. 
12; Pbincb Arthur of Connaught. 13, Duke of Saxe-Cobubg-Gotha. ]4, Peince Alexandeb of BATTENBEsa 
15, Pbincb Maurice of Battenbebg. 16, Prince Leopold of Battenberg. 17, Duchess of Fife. 18, Princess 
Victoria of Wales. 19, Princess Charles of Denmark. 20, Princess Aribert of Anhalt. 21, Princess Vio- 
VORIA OP Schleswig-Holstein. 23, Princess Alice op Albany. 23, Princess Louis of Battenberg. 24, PbiM' 
oers Henry of Prussia. 



THE IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. U7 

"The English government has been harshly criticised from various 
quarters, but for the Queen herself there has been nothing but expres- 
sions of kindness, and when she celebrated a few years ago the fiftieth 
anniversary of her coronation her subjects from all over her vast domain 
vied with one another in paying affectionate tribute to their Queen." — 
Richmond (Va.) Dispatch. 

"Queen Victoria, either from lack of initiative or from good sense, 
was satisfied to reign and did not attempt to govern. Without obstruc- 
tion from the throne, therefore, under the leadership of men that Great 
Britain itself raised up, British liberty has still further 'broadened 
grandly down from precedent to precedent.' " — Des Moines Leader. 

"Queen Victoria constantly kept near her people. She never sought 
the release from responsibility that might have been secured by delegat- 
ing certain powers to others. She assumed and discharged all the obli- 
gations of queenship, and her reign has been characterized by a loyalty 
to and a love for her subjects that have never been surpassed in mon- 
archical rule." — Kansas Citv Journal. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 
THE PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

Characteristics of the Queen — Her Love for Animals — Her Domestic Habits — Fondness for 
Outdoor Life — She Possessed a Remarkable Memory — ^Her Homes — Royalty Learns Garden- 
ing—England's Royal Household — Much of the Queen's Time Spent in Reading— Her 
Favorite Books— Wealth of the Queen — Her Many Descendants. 

HEN tlie women of Great Britain were subscribing their 
Jubilee gift to the Queen, a colony of Japanese women 
at Knightsbridge added their contributions with this 
characteristic wish: "Truly she must be a great 'Lady 
King'; may she live on an unshaken throne yet another fifty years, 
and after that the perpetual bliss!" 

When one pauses to study the personal character of the Queen, and 
the attributes which made her beloved at home and revered abroad, 
they are to be summed up in one simple phrase — -^he was a good woman. 
Not faultless, certainly; the charming wilfulness of the child had a 
survival in maturer age. Strong and passionate in her attachments, 
the Queen could be, in her young days, quick and hasty even with those 
whom she loved best; but shallowness Avas no part of her nature, 
neither did she harbor resentment. Absolute truthfulness and sincerity 
were the qualities which dominated her character, and also gratitude 
towards those who served her faithfully, be they great Ministers of 
State or humble servants. It was a part of the nobleness of her dispo- 
sition that she did not assume that she had a right to special attention 
because of her high position. One frequently meets in her diaries with 
expressions of pleasure at kindness shown to her when visiting at the 
houses of her subjects, as though it were something unmerited. Among 
the many touching incidents of her gratitude to those who had been her 
faithful friends was the visit paid by her to Sir John Biddulph when 
he lay dying at Abergeldie Mains. 

"You have been very kind to me. Your Majesty," said the dying man. 
"No," replied the Queen, as she pressed his hand, "it is you who have 
been very kind to me." 

An utter detestation of shams was another of Her Majesty's char- 

448 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 449 

acteristics, shown by the fact that those who obtained her greatest 
confidence were honest, even to bluntness. She liked to get at the root 
and reality of things, and the time-server stood no chance before her 
keen scrutiny. Her fondness for her faithful Highlanders became 
almost a proverb, and she was never so happy as when talking with 
the old folks at Balmoral without form or ceremony, and much of her 
love for her Scottish home may be attributed to the fact that there she 
could throw off the restraints of royalty more thoroughly than in any 
other place. She was an exemplary landowner, and erected schools, 
model cottages, established a free library, and provided a trained sick 
nurse for the tenants at Balmoral. To her cottagers at Osborne she 
was also ever the friend in time of need; and when she erected alms- 
houses on her estate for the use of poor old women, she retained one 
tiny room for herself, thus, as it were, becoming an alms-woman herself 
and keeping her poorer neighbors company. In matters of religion the 
Queen showed herself singularly free from prejudice. At Balmoral 
she always worshiped according to the simple style of the Scottish 
Church and partook of its rites in communion, while she chose for her 
chief spiritual guides Dr. Norman Macleod and Principal Ttilloch. In 
England the service in her private chapels was the simplest form of the 
Episcopalian Church, and her close friendship with Dean Stanley 
would point to the fact that she inclined to the broader school of 
thought, and thought more of deeds than of creeds. She ever set a good 
example in Sabbath observance; and many years ago, when it came 
to her knowledge that tradespeople were employed to bring provisions 
to Buckingham Palace on Sunday morning, she at once ordered that 
no eatables were to be brought into the Palace on Sunday. 

The Queen was fond of quoting the saying of Schopenhauer, "If it 
were not for the honest faces of dogs, we should forget the very exist- 
ence of sincerity;" and from her childhood she always had dogs about 
her. Her earliest favorite, "Dash," a black-and-tan spaniel, was her 
constant companion when, as the Princess Victoria, she took her morn- 
ing walk in Kensington Gardens, and his joyous bark was the first 
welcome she received on her return to Buckingham Palace from her 
coronation. "Looty," a lovely silken, long-haired dog brought by a 
British oflflcer from China, was a later favorite. When the Summer 
Palace at Pekin was burning, this little dog was discovered curled up 
amongst soft shawls and rugs in one of the wardrobes, and the oflQcer 



450 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

who rescued him and brought him to England as a present to the 
Queen gave him the significant name of "Looty." A picture of him 
by Mr. F. W. Reyl was exhibited in the Royal Academy many years 
ago. Her Majesty had a special fondness for collies, and among these 
faithful animals "Noble" and "Sharp" were for many years chief 
favorites, and always traveled with her to and from Balmoral. 
" ^Noble,' " she writes in her diary, "is the most biddable dog I ever 
saw. He will hold a piece of cake in his mouth without eating it, 
until he may. If he thinks we are not pleased with him, he puts out 
his paws and begs in such an affectionate way." A beautiful collie 
named "Darnley II." was for many years Her Majesty's chief pet. He 
had a special "cottage" of his own, apart from the kennels of the other 
dogs. In their beautiful homes in the grounds of Windsor Castle were 
skyes, collies, pugs, and dachs, in great variety; but the Queen's par- 
ticular pride were her Italian "Spitzes," a breed of beautiful buff- 
colored dogs which she was the first to introduce into England. 
"Marco," with his lovely white coat and almost human intelligence, was 
another chief favorite with his royal mistress. 

Her Majesty in her younger days was one of the most accomplished 
horse-women of her time, and her ponies had an almost equal share of 
attention with her dogs. "Jessie" was her favorite riding mare for 
years, and carried her through many a Highland expedition; then 
there were two Shetland ponies, and "Flora" and "Alma," presented 
by King Victor Emmanuel, and a gray Arab, a present from the Thakore 
of Morvi. The royal mews at Windsor cover an extent of four acres 
and have accommodation for one hundred horses. Her harness-horses 
were nearly all of them gray, and those for the broughams were darlc 
chestnut. But specially proud was the Queen of her twelve creniii- 
colored horses, with long, silky tails nearly touching the ground. Their 
ancestors took the girl Queen to her coronation, and the stock was 
always kept up for Her Majesty's use on State occasions. 

An amusing little favorite of the Queen was "Picco," which she 
used to drive in a pony carriage some years ago. He was a Sardinian 
pony, presented by the King of that country, and was only forty-four 
inches high. That charming naturalist, Frank Buckland, has given 
an amusing account of his attempts to sketch this fussy, nervous little 
fellow, who was highly indignant at having his measurements taken. 
The Queen was greatly diverted by the account of her pet's behavior, 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 451 

for she was fond of studying the characters of the animals about her, 
and liked them to have their pictures taken. Bushey Park was used 
as a kind of home of rest for the pet horses who were no longer fit for 
active service. There "Picco" was sent to end his days, and, as a 
useful lesson in humility, he had "Alderney," a costermonger's rescued 
victim, given him for a companion. One day, when the Queen was 
driving in the Isle of Wight, she saw a costermonger savagely beating 
a beautiful white pony, and, stopping her carriage, she offered to buy 
the ill-used animal, in order to save him from his life of misery. She 
gave him the name of "Alderney," and promoted him to a life of ease 
in Bushey Park, where he doubtless entertained his aristocratic friend 
"Picco" with the doings of costerland. 

The Queen's love for the brute creation did not limit itself to those 
animals who had the good fortune to be her pets. She was a warm 
supporter of those societies which labor to ameliorate the sufferings of 
animals, and viewed the modern thirst for scientific discovery by means 
of vivisection with apprehension. Her Majesty was a great symi)athizer 
with that branch of the Society's work which aimed at educating the 
children in the board schools to a sense of kindness to dumb animals 
by means of prizes given for essays upon the subject. 

The Queen's anxiety to protect lambs from what she conceived to 
be premature killing resulted in rather an amusing fiasco some years 
ago. She had been reading gloomy articles in the newspapers about 
the decrease of, English sheep, and she immediately attributed it to the 
excessive slaughter of very young lambs, and gave orders that no lamb 
was to be used in the royal household. The price of the meat at once 
fell to fourpence a pound, and it became necessary to explain to the 
Queen that the consumption of lamb was not the cause of the trouble, 
it was a question of breeding, and she then withdrew her mandate. 
This little incident is but one of many which serve to show her anxiety 
to promote the public good by her example. Many years ago, before 
county councils existed for the supervision of public amusements, the 
Queen made her influence felt in Birmingham. At a fete in Aston 
Park a woman who had been forced to walk on a rotten tight-rope 
was dashed to pieces in a shocking manner. Such was the callousness 
of the committee that they permitted the festivities to proceed in spite 
of the dreadful occurrence. A few days later the Mayor of Birmingham 
was the astonished recipient of a letter from the Queen's Secretary, to 



452 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

this effect: '^Her Majesty cannot refrain from making known her 
personal feelings of horror that one of her subjects — a female — should 
have been sacrificed to the gratification of the demoralizing taste, unfor- 
tunately prevalent, for exhibitions attended with the greatest danger 
to the performers. If any proof were wanting that such exhibitions 
are demoralizing, it would be found in the decision arrived at to con- 
tinue the festivities, the hilarity, and the sports of the occasion after 
an event so melancholy. The Queen trusts that the Mayor, in common 
with the townspeople of Birmingham, will use his influence to prevent 
in future the degradation by such exhibitions of the park which she 
and the beloved Prince Consort opened for the rational recreation of 
the people." 

In the early days of railway traveling the Queen, who, with char- 
acteristic fearlessness, had been one of the first to trust to the "steam 
demon," was very active in bringing pressure to bear upon the railway 
companies to induce them to take greater precaution for the protection 
of passengers. It was she who, in conjunction with the Prince Consort, 
put an end in England to the barbarous custom of dueling. 

To-day, now that legislation has become so much more humanitarian 
in its scope than it was forty or fifty years ago, one is apt to lose sight 
of the immense influence of royal example. In the good old days the 
chief restraint on social customs was fashion. As was the Court, so 
were the people. Probably no English monarch did more for the 
purification of society and for the elevation of a simple domestic life 
than Victoria. If great ladies to-day prefer to spend their leisure 
hours in the support of pet philanthropies instead of the excitement of 
lotteries, was it not the Queen who set the vogue by associating her 
ffreat name with schemes of beneficence? She was a visitor in the 
wards of England's hospitals long before ladies of birth and social 
position took up such work to any extent. That philanthropy is fash- 
ionable in London to-day, is due to influence coming from the throne 
and permeating all classes of society. All the Queen's daughters, and 
indeed daughters-in-law also, are women who delight in good works; 
and although they owe much of their impetus in that direction to the 
Prince Consort, it was the Queen who gave her children such an admir- 
able father. Her Majesty chose her husband for his good qualities, and 
nothing but her sanction and support made it possible for him to carry 
through his schemes. The nation was at one time barely respectful to 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 453 

him, and did not awaken to a full appreciation of his merits until it 
was too late. But for the Queen, Prince Albert might have occupied 
no better a position in the country than did the insignificant husband 
of Queen Anne. 

Another of Her Majesty's characteristics which influenced the 
national life of her own sex was the Queen's love of fresh air and out- 
door exercise. There is a connection between the sovereign taking her 
breakfast in a tent on the lawn and spending many hours of each day' 
driving, whatever the weather may be, and the fine, healthy, well- 
developed girl of the period swinging her tennis racket, playing hockey, 
and boating and cycling. When the Queen was young such things were 
not, and the mammas of that time were probably shocked when they 
first heard, fifty and more years ago, of Her Majesty going deer-stalking 
with her husband for nine hours at a stretch, undertaking perilous 
mountain expeditions, and walking about in the wilds of Balmoral with 
a hood drawn over her bonnet to protect her face from the rain. She 
was fond, too, of taking an early walk before breakfast; and on one 
occasion, when paying a visit to Blair Athole, she set out alone early 
one morning before any one was about, and wandered so far — beguiled 
by the fresh autumn air — that she lost her way, and was obliged to 
appeal to some reapers whom she saw working in a field to show her 
the way back. She always encouraged her daughters to take plenty 
of outdoor exercise, and they were expert skaters at a time when the 
pastime was an uncommon one for ladies. Princess Alice was a par- 
ticularly graceful skater, and after her marriage found that she was 
nearly the only lady in Darmstadt who could skate. 

The Queen gave her countenance to ladies riding the tricycle at 
a very early stage of the introduction of that machine. It was while 
taking her favorite drive along the Newport Koad in the Isle of Wight 
that she for the first time saw a lady riding a tricycle, and she was so 
much pleased that she ordered two machines to be sent to Osborne for 
some of her ladies to learn to ride upon. When the more expeditious 
bicycle came into use. Her Majesty looked askance for a time at ladies 
using it; but eventually she took the greatest delight in watching the 
merry cycling parties of princesses which started daily from Balmoral 
in the autumn, and she enjoyed many of her hearty laughs at those 
who were in the learner's stage, and had not mastered the mystery of 
maintaining the balance. That latest innovation in the way of vehicles 



454 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

— the motor-car — was regarded by the Queen with special interest, for 
when she was a girl there was an effort made to introduce coaches 
run by steam on to the roads, but the public did not take to the idea 
of these horseless carriages, and so they dropped out of existence, and 
"Jarvey" won the day. On at least one occasion Her Majesty rode in 
one: it was when she was about twelve years of age. With her mother, 
the Duchess of Kent, she had been to visit His Majesty King George 
IV. at the Royal Lodge, and they made the return journey from Windsor 
to London in a steam coach. 

In her attitude to modern inventions the Queen showed herself 
ready to accept new ideas, but it is said that she did not take to the 
electric light, and would not have it introduced into the royal palaces. 
At Balmoral she had the rooms lighted by candles, and burned wood 
fires, as she found this old-fashioned style cosier, and it reminded her 
of her young days. The Queen first adopted gas in 1854, when it was 
used to light the new ball-room at Buckingham Palace on the occasion 
of the first visit of Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie to this country. 
The ceiling of the room was decorated in various colors to enable Her 
Majesty to form an idea of the effect of the new illuminant. She and 
the Prince Consort were so pleased with it that they shortly afterwards 
introduced it into Windsor Castle. Probably the Queen thought that 
to witness one entire revolution in the way of domestic lighting was 
enough in a lifetime, and left the adoption of the electric light to 
younger people. 

The early British custom of erecting cairns, or heaps of stones, to 
commemorate events was one greatly in favor with the Queen. The 
first royal cairn was erected when she took possession of Balmoral, and 
the estate is now quite rich in these unique memorials, there being one 
to commemorate the Prince Consort's death and the marriages of each 
of her children. One might say that Her Majesty had a passion for 
having memorials of her domestic joys and sorrows, and she was most 
punctilious in the observance of anniversaries. She kept her own birth- 
day, and had a birthday cake like other people, and was keenly appre- 
ciative of the presents which were sent to her by every member of her 
family, even to the youngest branches. The Prince Consort's birthday 
was also observed, and his health drunk in silence. 

After her great bereavement her mind naturally dwelt much on 
^eath observances, and she herself drew up a complete code of direc- 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 455 

lions for the arrangement of royal funerals and layings out. Different 
shrouds are directed to be used for the male and female members of the 
family, also for the married and unmarried; and female members of 
the royal family abroad are to be represented by one of their own sex. 
When the Duchess of Cambridge died in 1889, the Queen insisted that 
the funeral should be in semi-State, although the aged Duchess had 
herself desired to be buried quite privately. She was one of the few 
left who had known the Queen in the heyday of her youth and had 
really loved and cared for her, and Her Majesty was determined that 
her much-revered aunt should be buried with the observances due to 
her high birth as well as to her excellent character. The apartments 
used by deceased royalties in the Queen's palaces and houses were kept 
locked up. Those of Princess Charlotte at Claremont were preserved 
as she left them for more than seventy years. Prince Alber-t's private 
rooms at Windsor, Osborne, and Balmoral, and the Duchess of Kent's 
at Frogmore, also remained undisturbed during the Queen's life, and 
she testified her special esteem for John Brown by directing that the 
rooms which he used at Windsor Castle are to be kept sacred to his 
memory. Her Majesty had a great objection to embalming, and pro- 
hibited it with regard to royal persons, unless the circumstances were 
very exceptional. After the sad death of the Prince Imperial at the 
hands of the Zulus, and the impossibility there was of preserving his 
body for the Empress to take a last look at it, the Queen so far relaxed 
her regulations as to permit the various accessories for embalming 
being taken out when one of the royal family undertook foreign service. 
The wisdom of this arrangement was sadly seen in the case of Prince 
Henry of Battenberg. 

Her Majesty advocated absolute retirement for a time in the case of 
bereaved people, and the most lugubrious signs of outward mourning. 
It would seem, also, that she did not favor the remarriage of widows, 
judging from the significant fact that not one of the royal widows, be 
she young or be she middle-aged, was provided with a second husband. 
In the case of widowers Her Majesty's strictures were not so severe. 

She instituted several changes with regard to royal weddings. She 
herself set the example of being married in the morning, royal mar- 
riages having formerly been celebrated in the evening. It was not 
customary in former reigns for royalties to retire for a honeymoon; 
His Majesty King George III. remained at St> James' and held levees 



456 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

immediately after his marriage. The Queen and Prince Albert had a 
brief honeymoon of two days at Windsor; then the Duchess of Kent and 
all the Court came flocking down to escort the royal pair back to a round 
of functions and festivities in London. Even that very young bride the 
Princess Royal had, like her mother, only two days of absolute retire- 
ment. Since that the royal honeymoons have been gradually increasing 
in leng-th, and the latest bride, Princess Maud, had a whole week of 
seclusion, and then it was only broken in upon by a visit from her 
mother and sister. The custom of brides mingling myrtle with their 
orange blossoms was a fashion introduced by the Queen. 

In matters of Court etiquette Her Majesty was punctilious to a 
degree, and her memory for pedigrees, as for faces, was unrivalled. A 
story is told by a Court lady that a question arose at the royal table 
between herself and Lord Beaconsfleld as to the genealogy of some 
obscure Italian duke who had suddenly come into notice. No one could 
tell who he was. "There is one person who could give the information," 
said Lord Beaconsfleld, "and that is the Queen." He took the flrst 

opportunity of asking the question. "The Duca di ?" replied 

Her Majesty. "Oh yes, I remember perfectly," and she forthwith gave 
a full history of his family. Prime Ministers of modern times sometimes 
found the Queen's remarkable memory a little embarrassing, as in 
discussion on political questions she would confront them with the 
views of Peel or Palmerston, or with the advice given her by Lord 
Melbourne in the first year of her reign; and it is reported that Lord 
Salisbury was once driven to delicately hint that there was a difference 
between the state of affairs in '37 and '87. 

Her Majesty was always very strict with regard to regulations for 
Court dress. All ladies, of whatever age, were required to appear in 
bodices with low necks and short sleeves. Plumes had to be worn 
standing erect from the back of the head; no modification was per- 
mitted. When a lady who formerly reigned as a society beauty and 
afterwards was a theatrical star was to be presented, she arranged her 
Court head-dress in quite an artistic manner, pinning down the 
feathers upon her lovely hair in a most becoming manner. All went 
well until she passed before the Court functionary preparatory to 
making the entree; then she was ordered to remove the pins, as no 
lady was permitted to enter the presence except with her plumes erect. 

It bad always been the practice to forbid the attendance at draw- 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 457 

ing-rooins of ladies divorced, even though it was for no fault of their 
own; but the Queen, with her admirable sense of justice, came to the 
conclusion that this was scarcely fair, and decided that a lady of blame- 
less life ought not to be excluded from Court by reason of her husband's 
misdeeds. The matter was brought before the Cabinet some years ago, 
but allowed to drop without its being decided. The question was 
revived in 1889, and it was arranged that ladies debarred by divorce 
might make special application for admission to Court to the Queen 
herself, who decided on the merit of each case, after having had the 
report of the trial laid before her. There is a record of one lady who 
had obtained divorces from two husbands in succession gaining the 
Queen's permission to be presented on her third marriage. 

To one so fond of outdoor life and the beauties of nature as was 
Her Majesty, flowers were naturally a special delight, and she preferred 
to see them growing rather than when used for indoor decoration. In 
the grounds at Osborne there was a flower-bed specially planted for 
the Queen's pleasure with pinks and carnations, as she was very fond 
of these old-fashioned flowers, and frequently took tea on a spot near 
to the bed. During her drives from Osborne to Newport she had 
noticed the lovely gardens and houses belonging to Mr. Nunn, the 
famous manufacturer of the lace called by his name, and one day 
expressed a wish to see over them. Ever afterwards a basket of Mr. 
Nunn's choicest blooms was sent daily to the Queen when she was at 
Osborne, and the gift gave her the greatest pleasure. At the time of 
the Jubilee a loyal gentleman suggested the wearing of the Queen's 
favorite flower as a badge, and wrote to Sir Henry Ponsonby to inquire 
what it was. Her Majesty replied that in summer she preferred the 
rose to any other flower. Probably it is the sweet and delicate odor 
of the national flower as well as its beauty which pleased the Queen, 
as she greatly disliked strong perfumes. 

Speaking of scents, one is reminded that Her Majesty had such a 
dislike to the smell of cigars and tobacco that smoking was for many 
years prohibited in Windsor Castle, a restriction in which the Prince 
Consort fully concurred. Cards requesting that gentlemen would not 
smoke were neatly framed and hung in the rooms of the lords-in-waiting 
and equerries of the royal suite, and the servants and workpeople were 
forbidden to smoke inside the Castle. In later years no such rigid 
restriction existed, which is attributed to the influeijce of John Brown, 



458 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

who liked his pipe, and, being as canny as he was faithful, persuaded 
the Queen a little tobacco smoke was "no bad thing to have about a 
hoose." 

A notable figure in the Queen's married life was that trusted friend 
and adviser, Baron Stockmar, who for seventeen years moved quietly 
in the background of the Court. He was an army physician who became 
attached to the suite of Prince Leopold, the Queen's uncle, and was 
with him at Claremont when his young wife, the Princess Charlotte, 
died. Later on he accompanied Prince Leopold when he became King 
of Belgium. Upon the Queen's accession. Uncle Leopold despatched 
the trusted Stockmar to England to watch over the welfare of his niece. 
It was not, however, until after the Queen's marriage that he became 
a permanent figure in her household. What "the Duke" was to the 
nation, "the Baron" became to the Court, and the wags dubbed him the 
"Old Original." He was a man of sterling qualities; upright, sagacious, 
with a vast amount of knowledge of the world, and was equally useful 
beside a sick-bed or at a writing-table. In the royal nursery he was a 
perfect oracle, and is reported to have said, "The nursery gives me more 
trouble than the government of a kingdom would do." Under his 
judicious management the delicate little Princess Eoyal became so fat 
and well that he was able to write of her, "She is as round as a barrel," 
ajid the Queen said in one of her letters, "Pussy's cheeks are on the 
point of bursting." The queer old German Baron was a kind of a fairy 
godfather to the little folks; it was to his room they ran with their 
latest toy, or when they wanted a story. The Princess Royal, however, 
was his favorite, her smart wit delighting him vastly. 

The Baron was, as might be expected, a privileged person. He was 
permitted to sit at Her Majesty's dinner table in trousers, while other 
old gentlemen shivered in "shorts." Immediately the meal was over 
he would be seen walking off to his own room without ceremony. He 
never sacrificed his comfort to etiquette. When the spring came, he 
suddenly disappeared, without any adieux; then would follow letters 
of regret from his royal master and mistress, and, after spending a few 
months with his wife and family in his native Coburg, the Baron would 
return to Windsor as mysteriously as he had disappeared, and resume 
his role of chief adviser and general referee. 

Balmoral, the Queen's Highland home, which was established at the 
pleasure of her husband. Prince Albert, was always the Queen's favorite 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 459 

residence, aud it was there that her pleasures were giveu full reiu. 
Among the Scotch hills and the Scotch people the Queen w^as a woman, 
and she frequently met her farmer neighbors, stopping at the road 
crossing or wherever they chanced to pass to give a word of advice or 
encouragement. It was at Balmoral that Her Majesty's fondness for 
domestic animals, particularly cow^s, was indulged. She encouraged 
the breeding of fine cattle throughout the neighborhood, and herself 
kept a sleek herd, to each member of which she had giveu a name. 

At Osborne House, the Isle of Wight, where the Queen's last illness 
occurred, are located the gardens in which the Prince Consort, the 
Queen and all their children were in former years much interested. 
The Prince Consort was very fond of gardening and liked particularly 
to get out with a hoe and trowel and do his own digging. He arranged 
the gardens at Osborne House so that each of his children should have 
his or her own garden, in which every year of their childhood some- 
thing m.ust be grown. 

The Queen herself was fond of the gardens and proud of her chil- 
dren's efforts, which she used often to superintend. One day, so the 
story runs, she was watching her eldest daughter among her flowers. 
The Princess wore a new pair of gloves, and when the Queen noticed 
these she remarked: "When I was a child I always did my gardening 
in old gloves." 

To this the Princess replied promptly: "Yes, but you were not born 
Princess Royal of England." 

Another time when the children were busily engaged in digging- 
turnips for the royal table someone discovered a worm in the root of 
the largest and finest of the basketful. There was immediately a 
discussion as to whether that turnip should not be thrown out. It was 
the Princess Alice, the youngest and favorite of them all, who settled 
the question by gravely remarking: "Oh, let it pass; it is such a beauty 
and mamma wall be none the wiser when she has eaten it." 

At Windsor Castle, where much of the Queen's time w^as perforce 
spent, she never felt at home; indeed she w^as not at all familiar with 
the great pile, and it is doubtful if she ever made a tour of inspection 
of the entire premises. More, it is safe to say that no member of the 
royal family since the death of the Prince Consort has been familiar 
with the palace, and any one of them might easily get lost in its endless 
corridors. The building contains more than seven hundred separate 



460 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

apartments and the inventory of its furnishings fills sixty large volumes. 
The only two people to whom the great mansion is at all familiar are 
Lord Lome, the present governor and constable, and Inspector Collman, 
and to them it is a life work. 

The royal household is as much of an institution in England as is 
the royal family, and Parliament grants annually some million or more 
dollars to pay the salaries of its members. Although in former days 
the Court of England was as lavishly appointed as any in Europe, and 
although t07day it is not lacking in richness, the various offices of the 
household are far less sought after than they formerly were, and, 
indeed, a footman with his living to earn might better enter the service 
of a wealthy citizen than that of the Crown. The Queen had fifteen 
footmen and one sergeant footman, whose salary was |650 a year. 
Formerly the sergeant footmen, or one of his six senior footmen, was 
often promoted to the position of page of the presence, or of a Queen's 
messenger, either of which positions was worth $1,500 or |2,000. This 
practice has gone the way of most of the perquisites and the oflice of 
royal footman is no longer sought after as it used to be. 

Next to the Sovereign's footman, the State trumpeters are the most 
popular and observed of functionaries. There are eight of them under 
a sergeant, and they are part of the State band, which is distinct from 
His Majesty's ban4 and is only called into service upon State occasions. 
The uniform of these musicians is gorgeous, and is said to cost |600, 
but, of course, is only worn upon rare occasions and may thus be kept 
for many years. The salary of the sergeant is |500 a year and of the 
other musicians |200, although there are fees whenever they appear in 
public. A great ways up the social and ceremonial ladder are the 
pursuivants, heralds and kings at arms. These functionaries are of 
both popular and historic interest. Their costumes, which appear only 
upon occasions of State, are gorgeous, old-fashioned and old. They are 
of the greatest importance, these officers who officiate at the reading 
of war and peace declarations at coronation announcements, and whose 
solemn announcements are made over the graves of the illustrious 
dead. The heralds must be "gentlemen skilled in the ancient and 
modern languages, good historians and conversant in the genealogies 
of the nobility and gentry." 

It is the duty of the heralds to grant coats of arms and supporters 
to the same to such as are authorized to bear them. When no armorial 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 461 

devices belong to the persons applying for the grant the heralds invent 
the same and emblazon them in a manner in keeping with the house 
which is to bear them. For this work the heralds receive more liberal 
fees than fall to the majority of the royal household. The pursuivants, 
heralds and kings at arms are under the earl marshal of England and 
are now created by him. In former days, when the kings at arms were 
more important functionaries than they now are, they were crowned 
with much ceremony by the King himself. The present ceremony of 
enlistment, as it were, consists of the swearing in of the new officer by 
the earl marshal. Wine is poured from a golden cup, the title is pro- 
nounced and the king at arms is invested with a tabret of the royal 
arms, richly embroidered upon velvet, a collar of SS with two port- 
cullises of silver-gilt, a gold chain with a badge of office. The earl 
marshal then places upon his head the crown of a king at arms, which 
formerly resembled a ducal coronet, but since the restoration has been 
adorned with oak leaves and circumscribed according to the old custom 
with the words "Miserere Mei Deus Secundum Magnum Misericordiam 
Tuam." 

There are three of these officers, the king at arms of England, the 
king of the province south of Trent and the king of the northern 
provinces. The king at arms of England wears a mantle of crimson 
satin as an officer of the order and carries when in the presence of the 
Sovereign a scepter with the royal arms upon the top. The heralds 
go through a similar ceremony upon entering office, except that in 
their case the crowning is omitted. They are all military and civil 
officers and take their oath on both the Bible and the sword. 

The office of earl marshal is one of the highest and oldest of the 
household. He is the eighth great officer of State and is the only earl 
who bears his title by virtue of his office. The lord steward is another 
of the Sovereign's high functionaries. As an emblem of his office he 
carries a white wand, which on State occasions, when the King is not 
present, is borne by a footman who walks bareheaded before the lord 
steward. The steward takes this symbol of power directly from the 
King and has no other formal grant of office. Upon the death of the 
reigning monarch the lord steward breaks his wand over the royal 
bier and his functions are at an end and all the officers of the royal 
household discharged. The royal household is, at the death of any sov- 
ereign, in a chaotic state resulting from the performance of this cere- 



463 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

mouj. The organization of the household is one of the first duties of a 
new ruler. 

One of the picturesque features of the court of Queen Victoria was 
the presence upon all occasions of her two bodyguards, the one com- 
posed of pensioned colonels and majors with distinguished service 
records, who are known as the "gentlemen at arms," and the other made 
up of noncommissioned ofl&cers and known as the "yeomen of the guard." 
The yeomen of the guard are popularly called "beefeaters." A yeoman 
officer and his men act as guard and usher in the great chamber on 
levee days and drawing-room days, their office being to keep an open 
passage for the guests and to usher distinguished guests to the presence 
chamber. The usher stands at the head of the room leading to the 
presence chamber, with his guard on either side of the door. When 
persons of certain rank approach, one of the guards calls "Yeoman 
usher," to notify his captain of the approach. The usher answers by 
calling "Stand by," and the passage is made clear. 

The captain of the yeoman is always a person of rank, a change 
being made with each administration. His salary is |5,000. He is an 
ex-offlcio member of the privy council, wears, like other officers of the 
corps, a military uniform and carries an ebony baton tipped with gold. 
His lieutenant receives a salary of |2,500 and carries a silver-tipped 
baton. The salary of the ensign is $750, and he carries a baton similar 
to that of the lieutenant. There are also four corporals, who command 
in the absence of their superiors. One of them sleeps at St. James' 
palace to command the yeomen on duty, a thing which no other officer 
of the corps does, and having in this way a delegated authority which 
he exercises in the absence of his superior officer. 

When the Queen came to the throne only three members of the 
guard were old soldiers, but it was her pleasure to thus distinguish the 
old warriors, and the guard now contains more than forty who have 
served in the army with distinction, and at no period has the guard had 
a higher social standing. 

One of the most peculiar offices in the household is that known for 
eighty years as the Queen's champion. It is an hereditary office, and 
is now held by F. S. Dymoke, who will have his first opportunity of 
performing this duty at the coronation of King Edward VII. 

The champion of England, as is his official title, appears but once 
during the reign of a monarch, and that at his coronation. While the 




1, Crown Princess of Roumania. 2, Grand Duchess of Hesse. 3, Hereditary Princess of HOHiarLOHi* 

LANGENBURa. 4, PRINCESS BEATRICE OF SAXE-COBURQ-GOTHA. 5, PRINCESS MARGARET OP CONNAUGHT.O^ PbIH- 

CESS Patricia of Connaught. 7, German Crown Prince. 8, Prince Eitel Fritz of Prussia. 9, Princh Oscab 
OP Prussia. 10, Prince Edward of York. 11. Prince George of York. 12, Prince Henry of York. 13, Pbhtch 
Carol of Roumania. 14, Prince Alexander of Greece. 15, Prince Gottfried of HoHENLOHE-LANaEJ»C0BG. 
1ft. Prince Frederick William of Hesse. 17, Prince Maximilian op Hesse. 18, Prince Wolfgang Macbiobov 
Hesse. 19, Prince Philip of Hesse. 20, Princess Henry XXX., of Reuss. 21, Princess Victoria Loitisb o» 
Pbussla. 22, Princess Victoria of York. 23, Lady Alexandra Duff. 24. Lady Maud Duff. 












-^. 




1, Grand Duchess Serge of Russia. S, Empress of Russia. 3, Hereditary Princess Charlotte of Saxb- 
Mbiningex. 4, Duchess of Sparta. 5, Princess Frederick Charles of Hesse. 6, Princess Adolphos oi* 

SCHACMBURG-LlPPE. 7, PRINCESS VICTORIA EUGENIE OF BatTENBERG. 8, GRAND DUCHESS OlGA OF RUSSIA. 

B, Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia. 10, Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, il, Princess Elizabeth of Hessb. 
12, Princess Elizabeth of Roumania. 13, Princess Marie of Roumania. U, Princess Helena of Greece. 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 46^ 

coronation banquet is in progress, a function which has always taken 
place in Westminster Hall, the champion enters on horseback and clad 
in steel armor with visor closed. Raising his visor, he challenges all 
comers to deny the title of the Sovereign, and ojtfers, if necessary, to 
fight them on the spot. Of course, no one is found to take up the 
gauntlet which he throws down. A golden goblet filled with wine is 
then handed him and he drinks to the health of the monarch, after 
which he backs his horse from the royal presence, carrying with him 
the goblet as his perquisite. The office of champion is said to have been 
established by William the Conqueror, who conferred it upon Robert 
De Marmion with the castle of Tamworth and the mansion of Scrivelsby. 
At the coronation of Richard II. the office was claimed by Sir John 
Dymoke, of Scrivelsby manor, and by Baldwin De Trevill of Tamworth 
Castle. The decision was that the office went with the manor and 
belonged to Sir John Dymoke, in whose family it has since remained. 
Should the present champion die his nearest male relative would inherit 
the honor. 

Her Majesty was a very wealthy woman. It is not likely that her 
exact capital will ever be known, as no royal wills are proved at 
Somerset House; but there are sources of information that suffice to 
show that she died possessed of a very large fortune. 

The annual allowance granted by Parliament to Her Majesty 
reached the total of |1,925,000. Most of this sum was definitely por- 
tioned out for various requireinents of the royal establishment. For 
example, |862,500 was allotted to the expenses of the household, 
$656,300 to salaries and retiring allowances, |66,000 to royal bounty, 
alms, and special service, and |300,000 to the Queen's privy purse, 
leaving an unappropriated balance of |40,200. The Prince Consort 
enjoyed a separate allowance of $150,000. In addition, each royal 
Prince received an independent grant as soon as he came of age, and 
each Princess was voted an annual income of |20,000 on her marriage. 

The presence in the British Cabinet of the Chancellor of the duchy 
of Lancaster — an office once held by John Bright — reminds one of a 
most valuable appurtenance of the Crown. The office is almost entirely 
a sinecure, and is used to find a place for a Minister whose presence is 
desired in the council, but for whom no definite portfolio can be found. 
The duchy itself, however, is a, very real thing, for its revenue has 
increased from |130,000 in 1865 to |250,000 at the present day. This 



466 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

handsome appendix to the regulation royal income is derived from 
meads, forests, chases, and woods in thirteen counties. The duchy 
belonged originally to Saxon nobles who rose against the Norman 
conqueror, and whose estates paid the usual penalty of failure. 

If even this source of income had been cut off. Her Majesty might 
still have held a respectable place in the list of landed proprietors. 
She is said to have been a most capable business woman, and her private 
investments, in which she was aided by the advice of Lord Cross, Lord 
Sidney, and Sir Arnold White, have been almost uniformly successful. 
The famous Osborne estate, in the Isle of Wight, is said to be five times 
as valuable as when it was purchased. Some property bought in 1881 
for 1390,000 is said to be of the present market value of $850,000. 

The total extent of the Queen's private landed property — in addition, 
that is to say, to the duchy of Lancaster, and any other appurtenances 
of the Crown — has been figured to reach 37,372 acres, with a yearly 
income of from fl 00,000 to |125,000. In this area are included three 
very fine Scotch forests — Balmoral, Ballochbine, and Abergeldie. The 
extent of moor and forest land in the total acreage largely diminishes 
the financial productiveness of the whole. The Claremont estate was 
also a private possession of Her Majesty's. Her foreign assets included 
a magnificent villa at Baden and land and houses at Coburg. 

Bequests formed another important part of the Queen's wealth. 
From her husband she inherited a large part of his fortune of $3,000,000. 
Perhaps the most remarkable windfall that ever came to her was the 
result of the economies of a miser who died in 1852, and whose will 
allotted the sum of |2,500,000 to "Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen 
Victoria, begging Her Majesty's most gracious acceptance of the same, 
for her sole use and benefit and that of her heirs." It is reported that 
the whole of this magnificent bequest remains untouched, so that by 
this time it must indeed be of enormous value. 

It would be impossible to estimate the treasures Her Majesty 
received in the form of gifts on special occasions. The Jubilee in 1887 
and the Diamond Jubilee ten years later brought her an immense 
number of presents from all parts of her Empire, as well as from other 
countries. The crown jewels at the Tower and most of the gold and 
sliver plate at Windsor are, of course, the property of the Crown, as 
distinct from the individual monarch, but it has been estimated that 
she possesses |2,500,000 worth of plate by private right. Her personal 



PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 4:67 

collections included numerous and valuable items in the form of 
jewelry, pictures, statuary, bronzes, carvings, china, and laces. 

Queen Victoria's shrewd judgment as an investor was matched by 
her excellent management of her household, which was by no means 
left entirely to the control of her officers. There was no stint in hospi- 
tality, but, at the same time, the most gorgeous entertainments given 
to foreign royalties never led to an appeal to Parliament for a special 
subvention. It remains to be seen whether this quality has descended 
to the next generation. 

Queen Victoria probably had the largest progeny at the time of her 
death of any monarch in modern times, and in civilized countries. In 
fact, no one can say with any certainty how many descendants she had. 
She had nine children, and at the time of her death had forty-two 
grandchildren. But how many great-grandchildren she had it would 
be difficult to say. The births and deaths in the family were of such 
frequent occurrence that a correct list is almost impossible. 

The Queen's first born is her namesake, Victoria, the Princess Royal, 
who was born November 21, 1840, and married January 25, 1858, to 
Frederick, then the Crown Prince of Prussia, but later the Emperor of 
Germany, who died June 15, 1888. They had eight children, as follows: 
William, the present Emperor of Germany, born January 27, 1859, and 
married February 27, 1881, to Princess Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein. 
They have six sons and a daughter — Charlotte, born July 24, 1860, and 
married February 13, 1878, to Hered, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen; Henry, 
born August 14, 1862, and married May 24, 1888, to his cousin. Princess 
Irene of Hesse; Sigimund, born September 15, 1864, and died within 
two years; Victoria, born April 12, 1866, and married November 19, 
1890, to Prince Adolphe of Schaumberg-Lippe; Waldemar, born Febru- 
ary 10, 1868, and died within twelve years; Sophia Dorothea, born June 
14, 1870, and married October 27, 1889, to the Duke of Sparta, and Mar- 
garet, born April 22, 1872, and married January 25, 1893, to Prince 
Frederick of Hesse-Cassel. 

The Queen's second child was Albert Edward, her heir and suc- 
cessor. He was born November 9, 1841, and was married March 10, 
1863, to the Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of the King of Den- 
mark. They have eight children, as follows: Albert Victor, Duke of 
Clarence, born January 8, 1864, and died January 14, 1892; George 
Frederick, Duke of York, born June 3, 1865, and married July 6, 1893, to 



' 468 PERSONALITY OF THE QUEEN. 

Princess Victoria May of Teck, and has the following children: Edward, 
born June 23, 1894; Albert, born December 14, 1895, and Victoria 
Alexandra, born April 25, 1897; Louise, born February 20, 1867, and 
married July 27, 1889, to the Duke of Fife, whose children are; Alexan- 
dra, born May 17, 1891, and Maud, born April 3, 1893; Victoria, born 
July 6, 1868; Maud, born November 26, 1869, and married July 22, 
1896, to Charles, second son of the Crown Prince of Denmark, and 
Alexander, born April 6, and died April 7, 1871. 

The Queen's third child was Alice Maud Mary, born April 25, 1843, 
married July 1, 1862, to Louis IV., Grand Duke of Hesse. She died 
December 14, 1878, and her husband died March 13, 1892. They had 
seven children, as follows: Victoria Alberta, bom April 5, 1863, and 
married April 30, 1884, to Prince Louis of Battenberg; Elizabeth, bom 
November 1, 1864, and married June 15, 1884, to the Grand Duke Serge 
of Russia; Irene, bom July 11, 1866, and married May 24, 1888, to her 
cousin. Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the Emperor William; 
Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, born November 25, 1868, and mar- 
ried April 19, 1894, to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg; Fred- 
erick, born October 7, 1870, and died within three years; Alix Victoria, 
born June 6, 1872, and married November 26, 1894, to the Czar of Russia, 
whose children are Olga, born November 15, 1895, and Tatiana, bom 
June 4, 1897; and Mary, bom May 24, 1874, and died within five years. 

The Queen's fourth child was Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edin- 
burgh and Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born August 6, 1844, and mar- 
ried January 23, 1874, to the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia. They have 
five children, as follows: Alfred, born October 15, 1874, and died Feb- 
ruary 6, 1899; Marie, born October 29, 1875, and married January 10, 
1893, to Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Roumania, whose children are: 
Carol, born October 15, 1893, and a daughter; Victoria Melita, bom 
November 25, 1876, and married April 19, 1894, to Ernest Louis, Grand 
Duke of Hesse, who has issue; Alexandra, bom September 1, 1878. and 
married to Ernest, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who has issue; 
and Beatrice, born April 20, 1884. 

The Queen's fifth child was Helen Augusta Victoria, born May 25, 
1846, and married, July 5, 1866, to Prince Frederick Christian of Schles- 
wig-Holstein, who has had five children, as follows: Christian V., bom 
April 14, 1867; Albert J., bom February 26, 1869; Victoria L., born 
May 3, 1870; Louise A., born August 12, 1872, and married, July 6, 



PERSONALITY OR THE QUEEN. 469 

1891, to Prince Aribert of Anhalt; and Harold, born May 12, and died 
May 20, 1876. 

The Queen's sixth child was Louise Caroline Alberta, born March 
18, 1848, and married March 21, 1871, to John, Marquess of Lome. 

The Queen's seventh child was Arthur, Duke of Connaught, bom 
May 1, 1850, and married March 13, 1879, to Princess Louise Margaret, 
daughter of the late Prince Frederick Charles of Russia. They have 
three children, as follows: Margaret, born January 15, 1882; Arthur, 
bom January 13, 1883; and Victoria Patricia, born March 17, 1886. 

The Queen's eighth child was Leopold, Duke of Albany, bom April 
7, 1853, and married April 27, 1882, to Princess Helen, daughter of the 
late Prince George of Waldeck, and died March 28, 1884. They had two 
children, as follows: Alice Mary, born February 25, 1883, and Leopold 
Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, born July 19, 1884. 

The Queen's ninth child was Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora, bom 
April 14, 1857, and married July 23, 1885, to Prince Henry Maurice of 
BattenbergjWho died of enteric fever while returning from the Ashantee 
war, January 20, 1896. They had four children, as follows : Alexander 
Albert, born November 23, 1886 ; Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, born 
October 24, 1887; Leopold Arthur Louis, born May 21, 1889, and 
Maurice Victor Donald, born October 3, 1891. 




CHAPTER XIX. 
A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

Incidents at Court^Mr. Story's Reminiscences— Amusements of the Royal Children— Trained 
tobeMusicians— The (Queen's Double— The Dawn of a Great Future— A Child Reproves 
the Queen— Carlyle's Brusque Manners— The Shah of Persia— "Expediency not in the 
Dictionary"— A Royal Punster— An Acrobatic Interlude— The Queen and the Empress 
Eugenie. 

"HAT Queen Victoria was ever a stickler for etiquette is well 
known, and, according to one who knew whereof she wrote, in 
the days when Prince Albert was in his prime, society was 
queerly captious in collecting every bit of tattle that might 
telTto the disparagement of the "Germanized court," as those who were 
not welcomed at it were pleased to call it. As early as 1841 some droD 
things were told about Her Majesty's coldness toward some of the court 
ladies thrust upon her against her will, but the probability is that as in 
Prince Albert's day the etiquette of the court was extremely severe, 
some of the young ladies in attendance had occasionally to be reminded 
of their position. They were expected to stand always when the Queen 
or Prince was in the room, and were not allowed to mix in the conversa- 
tion by word or laughter unless requested. A certain maid of honor, 
afterward a peeress, who had a charming voice, being one day requested 
to sit at the piano and play, declined, forgetting that the Queen's request 
was a command.. The Queen insisted, but the maiden replied that she 
had a cold. "Well, then, you had better go to bed," said Her Majesty. 
"Oh, no, thank you," was the answer; "but, if you don't mind, I will 
sit down," and she did. 

On another occasion a maid of honor who had accompanied the 
Queen to the opera and should have taken a seat at the back of the box, 
sat in the chair reserved for the Prince Consort. A glance warned her 
that she had committed a blunder, but being either obtuse or stubborn, 
she merely removed to the next chair in the front row intended for the 
royal family, where she not only remained but further ignored the fit- 
ness of things by applauding throughout the performance like the rest 
of the audience. 

Many of the old-time formalities, however, were abolished to a cer- 

470 



A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 471 

tain extent, altliough the Prince Consort when out shooting wonld 
never take his gun from the hands of a gamekeeper, but required that it 
should be handed to him by the equerry; and the Queen was so strict 
that at the table she required all personal attendance done by the ladies 
and gentlemen of her court. It is related that when Victoria visited 
Louis Philippe in the Chateau d'Eau in 1843 the King, having heard 
that it was her habit to drink a glass of water before retiring for the 
night, ordered that one should be taken to her. It was presented by a 
servant, but Her Majesty declined to take it. Seeing there was some- 
thing wrong, Louis Philippe whispered to one of his sons, who took the 
tray, whereupon the Queen took the glass graciously enough. During 
the Queen's visit to Paris in 1855, when Napoleon III. was in the glory 
of his magnificence, she was treated by her host not merely as a fellow- 
monarch, but as a lady. 

From her earliest years Victoria had been a careful student as well 
as a voluminous reader. The works of the old-time writers, as well as 
those who had passed away immediately before her coming into power, 
were familiar to her. In the time immediately preceding her were 
Wordsworth, Byron, Scott, Coleridge and Keats, and it is a matter of 
interest, in looking upon the literature of her reign, to note that in 
spite of this extraordinary combination of talent there was a sufficiency 
of oxygen left to furnish a new and fresh breath of literature almost at 
the very threshold of Victoria's ascendency. The early part of her 
reign was peculiarly rich in genius. 

Without entering into detail, there may be called the names of 
Carlyle, John Stuart Mill, Harriet Martineau, Charles Dickens, the 
Brownings, Grote, whose history of Greece has been well called a monu- 
mental piece of work; Macaulay, no less a great parliamentary debater 
and statesman than historian; Tennyson, the poet laureate; Matthew 
Arnold, Thomas Hood, Thackeray, Ruskin, Charlotte Bronte, Lord 
Lytton, Disraeli, Charles Kingsley, Charles Lever, Wilkie Collins, Black, 
Braddon, Macdonald, Trollope, Darwin, Huxley, Richard Owen, Tyn- 
dall, Herbert Spencer, Max Mtiller, George Henry Lewes and George 
Eliot, Buckle, Kinglake, Justin McCarthy, Mrs. Oliphant, Froude, 
Lecky, Stanley, Swinburne, the Rossettis, Morris, Charles Reade, Mere- 
dith, Blackmore, Hardy and Rudyard Kipling. 

To have lived in a land where these writers worked was much, to 
have known one and all of them was much, too; but to have been a 



472 A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

central figure in their thoughts, one toward whom their tenderest senti- 
ments extended and to whom they owed loyal allegiance, whose smiles 
they courted and whose favor they desired, was infinitely more. 

From the hour of her marriage the Queen, with her husband, took 
frequent occasion to recognize, not alone in a perfunctory manner, but 
in her most gracious way, the men and women who added lustre to hei; 
reign and refiected credit upon her dominion by the exercise of their 
mentality. It is said that until Disraeli as Beaconsfield became Premier 
in 1868 the Queen had read only one of his novels. She read the others 
in the course of the three following months. Victoria liked Dickens' 
works, those of George Eliot very much, some of Wilkie Collins, while 
the description of Scotch scenery in Mr. Black's books was very dear 
to her. She read and reread Sir Walter Scott's novels. She inclined 
rather toward the serious reading of history and theology, and the libra- 
ries in her palaces are richly stored with books of chronicles and 
memoirs, although it was said that she never called for a French book, 
having a deep objection to French literature in all its branches. 

It has been remarked by those privileged to converse with her on 
theology or historical subjects that the Queen was thoroughly Protest- 
ant in her religion and that she kept up quite a sentimental feeling of 
sympathy with the Stuarts. Going one day into the library at Windsor 
Castle she discovered the librarian reading some strong Jacobite 
memoirs. "Oh, you need not put them away," she said, "you know I 
am a Jacobite myself." 

This does not quite tally with the story which Macaulay used to tell 
of the Queen's opinion of James II. During Macaulay's visit to Wind- 
sor the Queen said: 

"I have been reading your history, Mr. Macaulay, and I am afraid I 
can't say much for my ancestor, James II." 

"Your Majesty's predecessor, not ancestor," corrected Macaulay. 

When Victoria was nine years old. Sir Walter Scott, according to a 
record in the diary of the famous writer, dined with the Duchess of 
Kent, and by Prince Leopold was presented "to the little Princess Vic- 
toria and heir-apparent to the house, as things now stand." 

"This little lady," he adds, "is educated with care, and is watched 
so closely that no busy maid has a chance to whisper 'You are heir of 
England.' I suspect if we could dissect the little heart we should find 
that some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter. She 



'A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 473 

is fair, like the royal family." The fact is that neither at that time nor 
for years after did Victoria know anything of her preeminence, but was 
brought up with strict economy and regularity, being taught to restrain 
her expenditures within the limits of her income, even when that was 
but a child's pocket money. Victoria came by her father's side of a 
lavish and largely spending race, and, no doubt, on this account the 
discipline under which she had been trained became more severe." 

Mr. Douglas Story, the well-known English journalist and war cor- 
respondent, writes as follows of his personal reminiscences of the 
Queen: 

"One day in August twenty years ago I saw the Queen for the first 
time. It was in Edinburgh, and Her Majesty had come north to review 
the volunteer forces of Scotland. All Scotland had poured forth its 
citizen soldiers, and in the fore part of the day the Queen's Park was 
checkered like a Highland tartan with its multi-colored bodies of troops. 

"Before the parade commenced, such a rain settled down as Edin- 
burgh has not known from that day to this. In an open carriage, pro- 
tected only with umbrella and mackintosh. Her Majesty sat while 
25,000 men slipped past her in the mud. Marching Vas impossible. 
At parts of the route the volunteers were mid-thigh in water and the 
long list of deaths from pneumonia and phthisis that followed exceeded 
those in many a hard fight. 

"But Queen Victoria faced it through — faced it with the memory of 
the fatal chill her husband caught in the same city nineteen years 
before. But there has been no other review, and, if my memory serves 
me rightly, she has never slept a night in the Scottish capital since. 

"The following day I was present at the great military review in 
Wimbledon Park, when the young Princes Albert, Victor and George 
returned from their tour around the world. The occasion was memor- 
able because on that day were more of the immediate descendants of 
the Queen gathered together than ever again met on one field. 

"My memory of the Queen at that time is of a little lady, very 
plainly dressed in black, who sat extremely upright in her carriage and 
bowed with a slow, sweeping inclination, vastly expressive of her dig- 
nity. Behind her carriage, on the rumble, stood John Brown and the 
other Scotch gillie, kilted in the royal Stuart tartan — stern men, whose 
devotion to the Queen was as pure and spontaneous as the air of their 
native glens. 



474 "A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

"Years passed before I again saw Her Majesty, and then it was on 
a long country road near Balmoral. It was autumn, and as I stood on 
the fallen leaves by the wayside she smiled over to me and bowed — a 
gentle little lady sitting very low in her low-swung carriage, with the 
Princess Beatrice beside her, and a single attendant on horseback. She 
had aged greatly in the intervening fifteen years, and there was a 
pathetic wistfulness in her face I did not remember from the long ago. 

"There in her Highland home she was woman rather than Queen — 
a good and kindly woman, who sent jellies from the castle to the frail 
old bodies in the cottages, and who still drove out occasionally to tea 
in a shepherd's hut or a gamekeeper's lodge. 

"Down in the village of Grathie was the little church she had built, 
and every Sunday the Balmoral party sat listening to the chaplains 
royal of Scotland — Principal Story, Dr. Cameron Lees, Dr. MacGregor, 
Dr. Norman Macleod. Many a curious sermon has royalty heard from 
those stout old upholders of the Scottish faith, and many an earnest 
discussion has Her Majesty waged over the luncheon table afterward. 
An Episcopalian in England, a member of the Church of Scotland in her 
northern kingdom, the Queen had her chaplains and respectful friends 
on both sides of the T'weed. 

"Once more I saw the Queen apart from her public appearance in 
London less than two years ago. It was at Windsor, and Her Majesty 
was to review the Honorable Artillery Company there. I had accom- 
panied a famous colonial minister to the park, and the Queen had inti- 
mated through Sir James Keid, the physician who attended at her 
dying bed, that she would like it if he would stand where she might 
greet him on entering her carriage. I was permitted to accompany the 
two gentlemen to a spot on the terrace near where the carriage was 
standing. 

"As we walked over. Sir James told how Her Majesty was very sen- 
sitive as to any but her immediate suite being present when she walked 
these latter days. She had grown so heavy of late years walking 
had become a pain to her, and she dreaded any publicity of her suffer- 
ing. 

"Arriving at our point of vantage we saw that a long gangway had 
been raised to the carriage to obviate the necessity of Her Majesty step- 
ping up or down. Quickly the door opened and the Queen appeared, 
leaning on the arm of her Indian servant and on a thick ebony walking 



A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 475 

stick. Very slowly she crossed the distance to the carriage, and once 
seated turned to us and bowed her gracious greeting. 

"We stood for some minutes gazing after the carriage as it rolled 
away to the reviewing ground, and then the colonial premier at my 
elbow shook himself and said : 

" 'Reid, I would not change my position as a subject of that woman 
to be president of the proudest republic on earth.' 

"Last May I was enabled to cable from the Transvaal certain news 
of moment to Her Majesty. Months later, when I returned to England, 
I found a graceful little telegram of thanks from the Queen. To-day it 
hangs framed in my study in London, and I possess no prouder treasure. 

"It is difficult for an Englishman to w^ite or to speak intelligibly of 
his feeling for the Queen who passed so gently away. Twice in my 
life I have been in the position where it was treason to sing 'God Save 
the Queen,' and the most impressive incident of my career was the 
singing of the grand old anthem when Lord Roberts unfurled the Union 
Jack in Pretoria on June 5 last. There was not a dry eye among the 
released prisoners by my side, and many a bronzed and battered vet- 
eran brushed away a tear as the rude prayer rose from the kirk square. 

"Then, as at her death, we were thinking not of Queen Victoria's 
majesty and might, but of the frail little woman soothing the fretted 
beds at Netley, carrying fruit and jellies to the poor at Osborne and 
Balmoral, of the infinitely tender mother of nations. 

"The picture that clings most persistently to me is of a young girl 
Queen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Beneath, a regiment is 
leaving for Syria, and as it passes below the porch the girl bends, draws 
off her little satin shoe and casts it after the soldiers for luck. Sixty 
years later she lay dying, the most loved Queen of whom history has 
any record." 

One greater than Queen Victoria applied to himself the simile of the 
hen and her chickens. There is, therefore, no disrespect in thinking of 
that comparison in relation to the Queen as a mother. Her mother- 
hood was active, provident, self-sacrificing, efficient, affectionate and 
unalloyed by sentimental nonsense. So long as her children were under 
her care she never lost a child. The Queen's maternal spirit and 
example completely swayed the home of the late Princess Alice. Her 
mother was her model. One of the amusements in the hours of recrea- 
tion of the six daughters of the Princess Alice was to search through 



476 A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

the files of the illustrated newspapers for traces of their grandmother's 
steps. It delighted them to find pictures of her with the chicks around 
her, unveiling statues, opening people's palaces, recreation grounds, 
inaugurating exhibitions and great engineering enterprises. 

The Queen was accustomed to tell how glad she was that her 
children had the companionship of each other and speak of her own 
sad childhood. It was a solitary childhood. She longed to play with the 
children who played about in Kensington Gardens and on the sands 
of Margate and Kamsgate. Her half-sister, the Princess Feodore of 
Leiningen, was nearly twelve years older and was engaged to be mar- 
ried when the future sovereign was only eight. The only childish com- 
panion w^as Victoria Conroy, daughter of the Duchess of Kent's private 
secretary. But the German ladies who surrounded the Princess Vic- 
toria were jealous of Conroy's influence and checked as much as they 
could the expansion of childish instincts when the two youthful Vic- 
torias were together. 

The royal children were encouraged to get up allegorical tableaux 
vivants — a favorite amusement of their ancestress, the Electress Sophia. 
The tree was imported for them into England. Children's balls were 
given at Buckingham Palace. The kindergarten system was adopted 
for the nursery, but excluded from the schoolroom. It is not well that 
study should be amusing. Hard mental drudgery gives shapeliness to 
the mind. Tutors and governesses were to exact obedience and to let no 
shortcoming pass unnoticed. In their efforts to establish strict discip- 
line they met with support from the Queen and Prince. The Prince was 
the high court of appeal. He began by appealing to the reason of the 
young offender. If a penitential spirit was shown there was forgive- 
ness and oblivion. If he was obdurate there was punishment, but not 
of a brutal kind. 

It was not easy to rear the Princess Royal. Prince Leopold was a 
weakling. The Princess Alice underwent a change that required watch- 
ing after scarlatina. The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred had to be 
separately brought up. The younger brother did not like to think the 
elder was to be his future King. The Prince of Wales was sent to stay 
at the White Lodge, Richmond. Still they were an affectionate family, 
and in growing up they became more so. The Queen herself attended 
her sons when they had the measles. 

The Queen and Prince were accomplished musicians and wished 



^ CHAPTER OF anecdotes: 477 

their children to be so. In the schoolroom they drudged to perfect 
themselves in the technique of musical instruments, but at other times 
first-rate musicians were brought in to play, as if by chance, before 
them. They might or might not listen. If they were enthralled the 
performer was often asked to return. 

When the Queen's children were young all the thrones of Europe 
were shaking, and there was great unrest in her empire. Louis Phil- 
ippe's family were exiles near Windsor. Strong as the Queen's confi- 
dence was in the love of her people, she had often cause for uneasiness. 
Her children were, so far as was possible, brought up to trust to them- 
selves. The cottage at Osborne was a technical school for gardening, 
handicrafts and cooking. Every day a dish was prepared there by one 
of the Princesses that was to figure in the evening on the Queen's table. 
The Princess Louise is not only a distinguished sculptor, but has a 
genius for housewifery. Nothing pleases her more than to busy her- 
self with housekeeping cares. The Queen often went to the cottage to 
see how the work was getting on. 

Anecdotes without end are told regarding the late Queen. Some of 
the best are given below: 

A memorable visit was paid to the city by Her Majesty in 1844 
for the purpose of opening the Koyal Exchange and unveiling the statue 
of the Duke of Wellington which stands in front of it. Great crowds 
of people assembled to witness the royal procession and special con- 
stables were sworn in to preserve order. These were given the great- 
coats of the police and the regular policemen were naturally thankful 
when the day turned out fine and the greatcoats became an infliction 
rather than a benefit. 

At the appointed hour Lord Mayor Magnay rode forth in his great 
gilded state coach to meet the Queen. He was attired in the antique 
state robes and his breast gleamed with flashing jewels. Squires and 
knights, swordbearer and macebearer, the aldermen in their scarlet 
robes, the members of the common council in their robes of blue, fol- 
lowed in his train. Beneath his crimson robe he wore the court suit, 
with the usual dress-sword, and on his head was a Spanish hat laden 
with nodding plumes. Upon reaching Child's bank his lordship alighted 
from his carriage to mount the horse on which he was to ride back, this 
latter proceeding being a mark of respect to Her Majesty. Unluckily 



478 'A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

at this moment the overweighted hat fell off and went splash into the 
mud. 

This was a bad commencement, but worse remained behind. Know- 
ing that it was dirty under foot his lordship had placed over his dia- 
mond-buckled shoes and silk stockings a pair of new jack boots. As 
the moment arrived when the Queen was approaching the Lord Mayor 
got off his horse in order to remove the muddy jack boots before present- 
ing the city sword to the Queen, but found himself unable to shift them, 
and although several hands tugged with all their might the boots 
refused to budge. At last one of them was got off, but the other resisted 
all persuasion, and, as the Queen came nearer, the frantic Lord Mayor, 
perspiring under the red robe, implored his helpers to put the boot back 
again. This was as hard as the original feat of getting it off, but by 
some means the trick was managed just in the nick of time. The silk 
calves and shining shoe buckles were never seen by Her Majesty, for 
the Lord Mayor was compelled to go through the ceremony and the suc- 
ceeding banquet in the terrible jack boots which had caused him so 
much misery. 

During the Queen's residence in Scotland much annoyance was fre- 
quently caused by inquisitive tourists who thought it necessary to 
resort to every dodge to obtain a glimpse of Her Majesty. It is related 
that an American visitor once esteemed himself lucky in catching sight 
of a lady whom he considered to be the Queen, riding in a small trap, 
and with no attendants. Having mentioned the fact to some friends, 
they persuaded him that the Sovereign often drove about in this manner 
and was specially delighted to be introduced to any American gentle- 
man, holding the affability of "Brother Sam" to be quite unparalleled in 
its ease and elegance. 

He kept a strict lookout for a few days and was at last overjoyed to 
catch sight once more of the little trap. "Her Majesty" alighted at a 
humble dwelling and went in. The courageous visitor immediately 
knocked at the door, and when the cottager opened it, presented her his 
card and asked that it might be respectfully presented to Her Majesty. 
Whereupon the housekeeper was about to call for help, thinking a luna- 
tic had paid an afternoon call. Between the broad accent of the States 
and the broad accent of the Highlands the conversation was conducted 
with dififtculty. But when the good woman discovered that the doctor's 
wife had been mistaken for the Queen she roundly threatened the 



A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 479 

intruder with violence by the medium of a broomstick unless he went off 
about his business. He was never introduced! 

The tradition that "the Queen never smiles" is old in England — as 
old as her reign. The hundreds of photographs of Her Majesty sold in 
all parts of the world invariably show the one expression, the heaviness 
of the face, accentuated by the pronounced droop of the long upper lip. 
But, nevertheless, the Queen does smile. A number of years ago 
Charles Knight, a photographer at Newport, Isle of Wight, secured a 
likeness of her which shows Her Majesty, not merely smiling, but 
broadly laughing. 

How did it happen that such a likeness was .obtained? In this way: 
The Queen was visiting Newport. The Mayor of the city was presenting a 
verbose and fulsome speech, also a magnificent bouquet. He had carefully 
committed the speech to memory, but in his anxiety to make a favorable 
impression with his courtly manners, his pomp and splendor of royal 
velvet and fur-trimmed robe, medals, cocked hat and cable chains of 
gold he "lost his place." 

After some stammering and stuttering he suddenly shouted, "I've 
forgotten the rest," and stood gazing at the Queen like a stupid school- 
boy on visitors' day. Then Her Majesty laughed outright, and the flus- 
tered and heart-broken Mayor dropped the bouquet and fled. While the 
Queen was laughing. Knight, the photographer, took the picture. 

Great amusement was caused by the recital of an incident which 
occurred soon after Her Majesty's accession to the throne. A grand 
dinner party was being given at the Buckingham Palace. The probable 
husband the Queen might select was then a matter of much interest 
and speculation. Lord Melbourne, as Prime Minister, felt the matter 
to be one in which he was entitled to obtain information if possible. 
So he inquired of the Queen, as neatly as he could, whether there was 
any individual for whom she entertained a preference. Her Majesty 
was a little taken aback and inquired whether he put the question as a 
matter of state policy. If so she would endeavor to give him an answer. 
Lord Melbourne replied that he did, and that under no other circum- 
stances would he have ventured to intrude in so delicate a matter. 

"Then," said the Queen, "there is one person for whom I entertain a 
decided preference." 

"Yes?" said Lord Melbourne, expecting to hear a great secret. 

"And that is— that is," said the Queen, "the Duke of Wellington!" 



480 A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

The venerable hero of Waterloo was past his seventieth year and the 
story used to be retailed by Lord Melbourne at his own expense. 

The Queen went to the opera one night when Taglioni was the star 
of the evening. Two Indian gentlemen, Jahanger Nowrojee and Hirjee- 
bhoy, were present and record that the Queen in her box was dressed 
in white and looked as happy as a Queen could look, but what aston- 
ished them most was to hear that the great dancer received 150 guineas 
for every performance. One of them wrote : 

"Only think! One hundred and fifty guineas every night to be paid 
in England to a woman for standing upon one leg, then to throw one leg 
straight out, twirl round three or four times with the leg thus extended, 
to curtsey so low as to nearly seat herself on the ground and to spring 
occasionally from one side of the stage to the other. All of which jump- 
ing about did not take on her part quite an hour, and to get more money 
for that every evening than six weavers in Spitalfields who produce 
beautiful silk dresses could earn by working fourteen hours every day 
for twelve months." 

Her Majesty was a great admirer of Taglioni and the Indian critic 
seems to have forgotten that the laws regulating the supply of weavers 
and great danseuses are not quite the same. 

One night the Queen and Prince Albert went to the Princess' 
Theater, then under the management of Charles Kean. They were 
received by Mr. Emden, the acting manager — a little round man. Open- 
ing onto the corridor, where the royal visitors had to pass, was a dress- 
ing-room, and three of the actresses — ^the late Miss Carlotta Leclercq 
and Mary Keeley and Miss Agnes Robertson (Mrs. Boucicault) clam- 
bered onto a table to peep through. Mr. Emden, carrying two candles. 
Was preceding the royal visitors, walking backwards up the steps, and 
in a state of great agitation. Thereupon the girls giggled loudly, and 
the horrified Emden was so overcome that he missed his footing, and 
incontinently sat down on the top step in the presence of the Queen, 
covered with confusion and candle grease. Her Majesty, following the 
reproachful eye of Emden, saw the three girls peeping over the fanlight, 
and, pointing them out to Prince Albert, leaned against the wall, laugh- 
ing long and loudly. 

There was very little formality in the Queen's household after one 
had passed the barriers. There is a story about a small girl who, with 
her father and mother, once had the honor of taking a meal with the 



A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 481 

Queen at Windsor. The small girl had been carefully taught by her 
nurse that it was impolite to take up bones in one's fingers and gnaw 
them. During the meal the Queen took occasion— very daintily, to be 
sure — to nibble the wing of a chicken in that manner. The child's eyes 
grew round with reproach, and pointing a diminutive finger at her 
royal hostess, she exclaimed with great distinctness. "Piggy, piggy, 
piggy!" The feelings of the father and mother can be imagined, but the 
Queen's genuine amusement and kindly tact soon made matters right 
and she gently explained to the culprit that Queens could do what it 
was not proper for little girls to do. 

Shortly before Browning's death the Queen was present at an after- 
noon party given by Lady Augusta Stanley. Browning and Carlyle 
were among the guests. Indeed, the Queen had expressly desired that 
Browning and Carlyle should be presented to her and the little tea 
party was quietly arranged for that purpose. Carlyle, there, as else- 
where, exhibited a sublime disregard for etiquette and appeared to be 
altogether unconscious of the customs which pertain in the royal pres- 
ence. After he was presented to the Queen he volunteered a torrent of 
remarks, and, without so much as "by your leave," flatly disagreed with 
a number of statements which Her Majesty made. The experience no 
doubt was a novel one for her. 

During a visit to the Victory at Portsmouth the Duchess and her 
daughter, who afterward became Queen Victoria, sat at one of the mess 
tables and announced their intention of having a "seaman's dinner." 
Accordingly, they and the ladies of the suite were served with beef and 
potatoes on wooden platters, and some grog to drink. The sailors were 
delighted and cheered vehemently. Many years afterward, when the 
Queen v/as cruising around the Cornish coast, she fancied she detected 
some signs of uneasiness among the crew, and upon making inquiry 
learned that she was sitting on the "grog cupboard." Her Majesty 
immediately declared that she would only rise on condition that some 
grog was compounded for her, and this arrangement was carried out, 
the Queen taking a sip or two of the "inspiring liquor." 

Her Majesty, soon after her accession, paid a visit to the Royal 
Academy, and commanded her ladies to attend her at Buckingham 
Palace at a certain hour. The Queen was ready at the appointed time, 
but one lady of the suite did not put in an appearance until ten minutes 
later. Taking out her watch, the Queen said : 



48^ 'A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

"I have been waiting, my dear Lady , ten minutes for your 

arrival. I trust sucli a circumstance may not occur again, as punctual- 
ity is of the utmost importance to me, and must be a ruling principle in 
my palace." 

The lady, somewhat confused by this reproof, could not, in the 
agitation of the moment, arrange her shawl to her satisfaction, and Her 
Majesty, observing that, very kindly assisted her, remarking : "We shall 
all understand our duties by-and-by." 

Of all Victoria's Ministers she liked Disraeli most and Gladstone 
least. Disraeli made her Empress of India and she made him Earl of 
Beaconsfield. He flattered, Gladstone dictated. It is said that once 
Victoria objected to signing a bill. 

"But you must, madam," urged "the grand old man." 

"Must, sir? You forget, I am the Queen of England." 

"You are, madam," returned Gladstone, "and I am the people of 
England." 

She signed the bill. 

Her Majesty was a severe mother. She insisted upon her children 
conducting themselves with perfect propriety. Once in a parade Prin- 
cess Maud was disposed to flirt with a number of young cavaliers. The 
Queen frowned at it, but the Princess would do it. The climax came 
when she dropped her handkerchief over the carriage side and a dozen 
oflacers at once galloped to restore it. 

"Stop, you officers!" cried the Queen. "Now, you get out and pick 
up that handkerchief yourself." 

Maud blushed furiously, but obeyed. 

On one occasion when the Queen was making a trip around the 
western coast the Mayor of a small town set out in a boat to present 
the address which had been voted by his corporation. In attempting 
to land on board the yacht he fell overboard in his agitation and was 
rescued in a very inglorious fashion, with the mayoral robes and the 
address in a condition of dampness that prevented the authorized pro- 
gramme from being carried out. 

There is a story that while the Queen was at her Highland home 
her sons went out walking and on their return asked a boy with a cart 
to give them a lift. "And who are you?" asked the boy of the first. "I 
am the Prince of Wales." "And who is this one?" "That's Prince 



'A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 483 

Alfred." "And the other?" "Prince Arthur." "Oh, are they?" replied 
the incredulous driver. "Well, then, I'm the Shah of Persia." 

So scrupulous was the Queen in taking care to fully underhand 
every document placed in her hand that Lord Melbourne was reported 
to have occasionally declared that he would rather have to deal with 
ten Kings than one Queen. Having submitted some act of government 
for the royal approval, he was proceeding to urge the expediency of the 
measure, when the Queen stopped him, observing, "I have been taught 
to judge between what is right and what is wrong, but expediency is a 
word I neither wish to hear nor to understand." 

After the Queen's accession, the Duchess of Northumberland, who 
had for some years shared with Baroness Lehzen the duties of royal 
governess, was commanded to an audience. It was represented to Her 
Majesty that, in consequence of her great change of position, she should 
receive the Duchess seated, and as a mark of special favor. The Queen 
reluctantly assented and sat down in the chair of state, but no sooner 
was the door thrown open and the Duchess announced than all recol- 
lection of regal dignity w^as lost. She rose from the chair, ran to meet 
the Duchess and threw her arms around her neck. 

As a little girl the Princess Victoria was very fond of haymakino-. 
Every afternoon she would come out on the grass with her little rake, 
fork and cart and collect the hay, which she would carry a short dis- 
tance and then return to fill her cart again. Upon one occasion she grew 
rather tired during this process and threw down the rake when the cart 
was half loaded. Thereupon her governess desired her to proceed and 
her charge declined. "But you should have thought about getting tired 
before you began the last load, for you know we never leave anything 
unfinished." So the Princess was compelled to set to and finish the task 
she had undertaken. In after life the effects of such firm insistence is 
clearly evidenced in the Queen's character. 

The Queen, being anxious to baptize the Princess Royal with Jordan 
water, notiiied her desire to the Duke of Sussex. It so happened that 
the little girl of one of His Grace's physicians had been given a small 
bottle by the eastern traveler, Eae Wilson, and when she heard through 
her father of the Queen's desire she at once said she would like Her 
Majesty to have it. The small bottle of the Jordan water was accord- 
ingly made up in a parcel and given to the Duke for Her Majesty, who 



484 "A CHAPTER OF ANECDOTES. 

warmly thanked the little girl. Jordan water has ever since been used 
at the royal baptismsw 

In connection with the distribution of the Crimean War medals, a 
story is told of an old lady who kept the Swiss Cottage on the Duke of 
Bedford's estate at Endsleigh. When Her Majesty was paying a visit 
to the Cottage, the old lady thought, "Now's my chance," and plucking 
up heart she said, "Please, Your Majesty, ma'am, I had a son, a faithful 
subject of Your Majesty, and he was killed in your wars out in the 
Crimea, and I wants his medal." "And you shall have it," replied the 
Queen, with a soft voice and melting eye, as she took the old woman's 
hand. 

The friendly alliance entered into between France and England dur- 
ing the Crimean War was the occasion of an interchange of visits 
between the sovereigns. The Emperor Napoleon, with his lovely young 
Empress Eugenie, visited Windsor in April, 1855, and a few months 
later the Queen and Prince Albert returned the visit, taking the Prince 
of Wales and the Princess Eoyal along with them. A series of brilliant 
entertainments took place in Paris, and the friendship between the 
Queen and the amiable and lovely Eugenie, which lasted until the end, 
was begun. Often one fancies that the two royal widows must have 
sadly talked together of those bright, happy times. The two children 
enjoyed their visit to Paris immensely, and the Prince of Wales con- 
ceived the brilliant idea that he and his sister might remain behind and 
continue the festivities after the departure of their parents. The Em- 
press made the usual reply which hostesses give to importunate 
juveniles — that their "papa and mamma would not be able to spare 
them," to which "Bertie" replied, "Oh, they can do without us; there 
are six more at home." 




CHAPTER XX. 

EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

Sketch of the Career of the New King— Different Estimates of His Character— His Educa- 
tion— Visit to Canada and the United States— Travels on the Continent and in the Holy 
Land— His Marriage— Grand Master of the Free Masons— The Kuler of English Society— 
His Succession to the Throne — Ancient Ceremonies Repeated— Parliament Renews 
illegiance- London Giren a Glimpse of Medieral Times— Gorgeous Processions. 

LBEBT EDWARD, the eldest son, but second child, of Queen 
Victoria, and the present occupant of the throne of the British 
Empire, was born November 9, 1841, at Buckingham Palace, 
London. He was the Duke of Cornwall by inheritance, and was 
made by royal patent, within a few weeks, Prince of Wales also. His 
titles, by inheritance and patent, are too numerous to be mentioned, 
but among them are Duke of Eothesay, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 
Prince of Saxony, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Dublin, Baron Renfrew and 
Lord of the Isles. 

His baptism, which took place January 25, 1842, in St, George's 
Chapel, Windsor, was an occasion of great splendor. At the font stood 
as sponsors the King of Prussia, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, repre- 
sented by the Duchess of Kent; the Duke of Cambridge, the young 
Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen's sister-in-law, represented by the 
Duchess of Cambridge; Princess Sophia, represented by the Princess 
Augusta of Cambridge, and Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg. The 
Prince was named Albert for his father, and Edward for his grand- 
father, the Duke of Kent. 

Prince Albert received his first but by no means his least important 
training from Lady Lyttleton, Mrs. W. E. Gladstone's sister, who was 
the governess of all the royal children until the Prince was six years 
old. He was then intrusted to his first tutor, the Rev. Henry Mildred 
Birch. In 1848 he was taken on a visit to Ireland, where he was received 
with great enthusiasm, and October 30, 1849, he made his first oflScial 
appearance in London. This was owing to the sickness of the Queen, 
who was taken with the chicken-pox. She was to have been present at 
the opening of the Coal Exchange, but sent the Prince and the Princess 

485 



486 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 

Royal to represent her. In 1851, though only ten years old, he assisted 
at the opening of the world's fair in the Crystal Palace. The same year 
Mr. Birch retired from his position as tutor, and was succeeded by 
Frederick W. Gibbs, a barrister at law, who remained in the position 
until 1858. 

The Prince's first appearance in the House of Lords took place amid 
warlike preparations. It was the occasion of the answer to the Queen's 
message announcing the beginning of hostilities in the Crimea, when 
he was present with the Queen. In August, 1855, just before the con- 
clusion of the war, he and the Princess Royal, accompanied by their 
parents, paid a long and delightful visit to Paris. This was followed by 
an incognito walking tour through the west of England, in which the 
Prince was accompanied by Mr. Gibbs and Colonel Cavendish ; and then 
he spent a short time in Germany, mostly at Koenigswinter on the 
Rhine. 

The Prince's religious training had been carefully attended to, and 
in April, 1858, he was duly confirmed as a member of the Church of 
England. He became eighteen years old November 9 of the following 
year, and was then capable of reigning, in case of the death of the Queen. 
The same year he was made a Colonel and received the Order of the 
Garter, Mr. Gibbs being succeeded by Colonel Bruce as his governor. 

From this time the Prince became a great traveler, generally incog- 
nito as Baron Renfrew, inserting between his tours, however, a course 
of studies at Edinburg. In 1860 he underwent his first extensive voy- 
age, in which, with the Duke of Newcastle as cicerone, he visited Can- 
ada, arriving at St. John's, N. F., July 24, 1860, and crossing over to the 
United States at Niagara Falls September 20, just in time to witness 
the marvelous tight-rope walking of Blondin. 

The first place of importance in this country visited by the Prince 
was Chicago, which, though nothing like the Chicago of to-day, gave 
him a spirited and enthusiastic reception. While there his English 
sporting instincts were aroused, and he took a trip to Dwight for the 
sole purpose of shooting prairie chickens, a kind of game for which that 
locality was famous. Resuming his journey, he visited St. Louis October 
30, and then struck out for Washington. He was warmly received by 
President Buchanan, and resided at the White House for five days. He 
paid a formal and respectful visit to the tomb of Washington at Mount 
Vernon, and then, in order to get a glimpse of slaveholding society, 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 487 

visited Richmond, Va. His reception there was of the warmest descrip- 
tion. He worshiped at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where Robert E. 
Lee had a pew a little later, and could hardly leave the church for the 
multitude that crowded around him to see him and cheer him. 

Of his visit to New York one of the Prince's biographers says : 

"After staying a few days in Philadelphia he started for New York, 
w^here he received a splendid welcome from Father Knickerbocker, 
being met at the station by the mayor and driven through Broadway to 
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Half a million spectators saw^ him arrive, and 
so great was the anxiety to see Queen Victoria's eldest son at close 
quarters that there was no structure in New York large enough to con- 
tain those who thought that they had — and who no doubt had — a right 
to meet the Prince of Wales at a social function. 

"At last a building was found capable of containing six thousand 
people, but, looking to the question of 'crinolines and comfort,' it was 
reluctantly decided that not more than three thousand cards of invita- 
tion admitting to the ball and to the supper to follow should be sent 
out. Fortunately, most of the three thousand guests w^ere important 
people, and, therefore, too old to dance. They represented in both senses 
of the word the solid element in New York society, for as they crowded 
around the Prince the floor gave way, and it is a wonder that no serious 
accident took place. This splendid entertainment, which took place in 
the old Academy of Music, is still remembered by many elderly Ameri- 
cans. The Prince showed his tact and good taste by frequently changing 
his partner. For the supper a special service of china and glass had 
been manufactured, the Prince's motto, 'Ich Dien,' being emblazoned on 
every piece." 

After spending five days in New York the Prince went to Albany, 
and then to Boston, where he met Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes 
and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He also visited Mount Auburn, and planted 
two trees there. Portland, Me., was the last American city that received 
him, and from that port he sailed for England. 

The Prince honored several of the universities with his presence. 
After studying for a session at Edinburg he entered Christ Church, 
Oxford, where he attended the public lectures for a year. He after- 
ward resided for three or four years at Cambridge for the same pur- 
pose. 

In November, 1858, Prince Albert was appointed a Brevet Colonel 



488 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

in the army, and in June, 1861, joined the camp, at the Gurragh, Kildare, 
to go through a course of military training. He was promoted General 
jn November, 1862, and attained the rank of Field Marshal in May, 1875. 
He was also Colonel-in-Chief of the Household Cavalry, the Tenth Hus- 
sars, and the Kifle Brigade; Captain-General of the Honorable Artillery 
Company and Colonel of the Gordon Highlanders. In the German army 
he held the rank of Field Marshal, and was also Colonel-in-Chief of the 
Fifth Pomeranian Blucher Hussars. In the Austrian army he was Col- 
onel of the Twelfth Regiment of Hussars. 

Accompanied by Dean Stanley, Prince Albert, in 1862, traveled on 
the Continent, visiting Germany and Italy, and thence journeyed 
through Egypt and Syria to Jerusalem. Upon his return he was intro- 
duced at the Privy Council, and took his seat in the House of Lords as 
the Duke of Cornwall. > He was also Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke 
of Saxony, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Garrick, Earl of Dublin, Baron of 
Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland. He was also 
patron of twenty-six livings, chiefly as owner of the Duchy of Cornwall. 
The Prince was married March 10, 1863, at St. George's Chapel, 
Windsor, to Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of the King of Den- 
mark, and was at once granted an income of £40,000 per annum, exclu- 
sive of the revenues of the duchy, making an aggregate of £100,000 a 
year. At the same time he relinquished his right to the succession of 
the throne of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in favor of his younger brothers, by a 
fornial act. In the following year he visited Denmark, Sweden and 
Prussia. Between 1864 and 1870 he visited many parts of the United 
Kingdom, opening expositions, laying foundation stones and perform- 
ing other civic functions. He went to Egypt for the second time in 
1869, and examined the Suez Canal, afterward departing for Constanti- 
nople, Sebastopol and Athens. In July, 1870, he inaugurated the 
Thames embankment and opened the Workmen's National Exhibition 
at Islington. 

Toward the close of 1871 the Prince was attacked with typhoid fever, 
and for some weeks his life was despaired of; but he slowly recovered 
and was able to take part in the memorable thanksgiving service in St. 
Paul's Cathedral February 27, 1872. 

The Prince was elected Grand Master of the Free Masons in Eng- 
land, in succession to the Marquis of Ripon, in 1874, and in April, 1875, 
was admitted to the office at a lodge held in the Albert Hall, In May, 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 489 

1875, he was installed at the Free Masons' Hall as first principal of the 
Royal Arch Free Masons. About this time Parliament voted |100,000 
to enable him to visit India. He left Dover October 11, and landed at 
Cairo on the 25th, and invested Mohammed Tewfik, son of the Khedive, 
with the order of the Star of India. He arrived in Bombay in November, 
and then proceeded to Ceylon and Calcutta. After visiting all the prin- 
cipal cities of the Empire, he arrived in London in May, 1876. He 
brought home with him about five hundre^d animals, and these he pre- 
sented to the Zoological Society's gardens. 

In the following year the Prince reviewed 30,000 volunteers in Hyde 
Park. He was appointed President of the British Commissioners at the 
Paris Exposition of 1878, in which he took great interest. He attended 
the court festivities held in Berlin in March, 1883, to celebrate the silver 
wedding of the Crown Prince of Germany with the Princess Royal of 
England. In 1885, in company with the Princess of Wales, he made a 
tour of Ireland, visiting Dublin, Killarney and Limerick. The Prince 
and Princess celebrated their silver wedding in 1888 and in 1889, 
together with their two sons, visited the Paris Exposition of that year. 

In May, 1891, the Prince was made a grandfather by the birth of the 
Duchess of Fife's daughter. In the summers of 1893 and 1894 he raced 
his yacht, the Britannic, in most of the chief regattas round the coast 
and secured many victories. In 1894 he attended the wedding of 
Princess Victoria Melita at Coburg, the marriage of the Czar's daughter 
at St. Petersburg, and the Welsh Eisteddfod, at which the Princess was 
admitted a bard. 

In the autumn of the same year he joined the Russian imperial fam- 
ily on the occasion of the death of the Czar. In 1896 he won most of the 
principal turf races, securing the Derby at Epsom, with his horse Per- 
simmon, and was installed as Chancellor of the University of Wales. 
The following month he attended the marriage at Buckingham Palace 
of his second daughter, Maud, to Prince Charles of Denmark. 

The Prince took a prominent part in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 
1897, and attended divine service at St. Paul's Cathedral June 20, when 
every tojslI personage in London was present. The following day he 
was appointed Great Master and Principal Knight, Grand Cross of the 
Bath. In the procession on June 20 the Prince rode on the right of the 
Queen's carriage. He and the Princess were the guests of the Lord 
Mayor June 25 at the Mansion House, The most striking event in con- 



490 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR, 

nection with the Diamond Jubilee was the naval review, at which the 
Prince represented the Queen. The fleet was anchored in the Solent, 
and the Prince, in the Victoria and Albert, steamed down the line, 
receiving a salute as he passed each warship. 

In July, 1898, while on a visit to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, 
at Waddeston Manor, the Prince slipped on the stairs and fell, fractur- 
ing his kneecap. An operation was fortunately resisted, and by pro- 
longed rest an almost complete cure was effected. 

The estimates of Prince Albert's character differ greatl}', but the 
differences are mainlj^ due to the periods at which they were made. The 
following is from a sketch published in London in 1895 : 

"The Prince is no saint, and is the last person in the world to wish 
to be set up on a pinnacle as such. He is subject to exactly the same 
weaknesses, frailties and errors of one kind and another as ordinary 
mortals, and gives way to them occasionally. That he does not do so 
more frequently is a subject for congratulation, for certainly no man 
living is exposed to greater temptations. His morals are neither better 
nor worse than those of the majority of his countrymen, and it is pre- 
cisely this fact that endears him to them. The sympathy thus estab- 
lished between Prince and people contrasts strongly with the unpopu- 
larity of his father, whose blameless behavior was generally regarded 
by the English as a reflection on their own conduct. 

"It is not, therefore, to any moral perfections that the Prince is 
indebted for the immense influence which he exercises, not alone in his 
mother's dominions, but throughout the world — an influence immeas- 
urably greater than that of many a king or emperor. Nor is it in any 
way attributable to the voice, which, as heir to the British throne, he 
might reasonably be expected to enjoy in the administration of his 
country's government. For his mother's sense of duty prevents him 
from taking any active part in the affairs of state. No; the explanation 
of the enormous influence that he commands is to be found in his tact. 
No other Prince of the blood possesses this quality to such a superlative 
degree. 

"It was by the exercise of tact that he once achieved for England, 
within the short space of three weeks, a victory in Russia which half a 
century of the most elaborate diplomacy and statecraft had failed to 
accomplish. It was by dint of tact that he brought about a reconcilia- 
tion of the Emperor William with his widowed mother, the Prince's sis- 



EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 491 

ter, aud dispelled that intense animosity toward England which charac- 
terized the outset of the young Kaiser's reign. To the same agency the 
British Government is indebted for the smoothing over of its many dif- 
ferences with France. So happy has he shown himself in his dealings 
with this most sensitive and excitable nation that he can boast of a 
popularity on the banks of the Seine superior to that of almost any 
French statesman or politician. 

"But most of all has this tact been apparent in his management and 
direction of English society, which he rules with a rod of steel concealed 
in a sheath of velvet. He guides it as he lists, but solely by tact and 
experience; and no prejudice, no preconceived ideas or theories are per- 
mitted to stand in the light of his decrees. For instance, it is thanks to 
him, aud to him alone, that all the ill feeling toward the Jewish race has 
disappeared, and that Hebrews — who in the early days of the Victoriau 
era were not admitted to the full rights and privileges of ordinary citi- 
zenship — are now to be found occupying seats in the House of Lords, 
on the bench of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and in the very front 
rank of the most smart, aristocratic and exclusive circles of society. 

"Probably the most striking illustration of the Princess tact is to be 
found in the absolute ignorance which prevails, even among his most 
intimate friends and associates, concerning his political opinions. He 
has always manifested just as mach consideration and regard for Glad- 
stone as for Lord Salisbury. He does not incline to the Tories any 
more than he does to the Liberals, and neither can claim him as a 
partisan. Only those w4io are acquainted with the violence of passions 
in English politics, and can recall the altogether unconstitutional par- 
tisanship of the various sons of George III. can realize the degree of 
tact which the Prince must have displayed for all these years to keep his 
countrymen in such absolute ignorance concerning his political views. 

"Perhaps the only particular in which the Prince does not display 
tact is in the selection of his associates. He is the most easily bored 
man under the sun, and any one like the late Sir James Mackenzie, who 
started in life a hatter, or Reuben Sassoon, the Parsee, who possesses 
the means of dispelling his ennui, is welcome at Marlborough House and 
Sandringham. Provided people succeed in amusing him, he remains 
indifferent to their antecedents, their principles and. their character. 
Consequently he is occasionally seen in company with persons who are 
not his equals socially." 



493 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR, 

Somewhat in the same line is the following passage from an article 
published in 1891 by Lady William Lennox: 

"The Prince has the faculty of never forgetting anybody once seen. 
He also remembers all sorts of matters connected with individuals after 
having once heard them, and, besides that, he is so quick and keen that 
nothing escapes his notice, even to the smallest detail. Woe be to the 
man, of whatever rank, and wearing whatever official dress, if a single 
stripe or button is not exactly as it should be when the wearer comes 
before the Prince. In a second the weak point in the harness is detected 
by that clear, blue eye, and the error has to be remedied. 

"This quickness of perception, added to a great readiness in conver- 
sation, makes him pleasant to meet, as he always has the right thing to 
say to the person he is talking to. Nothing can be more gracious than the 
way in which he receives his guests. For each one he appears to have 
a special welcome, and the smile and hearty shake of the hand must 
be seen and felt to be appreciated." 

Empires take no cognizance of grief or of monarchs that are gone. 
The whole machinery of state was employed on January 23, 1901, in 
installing the new sovereign and acclaiming him as King. There was 
no one living who took part or was present at these functions which 
were performed when Victoria took the throne, sixty-three years before, 
and the actors in the ceremony on this occasion were therefore guided 
only by tradition. This in itself was inadequate, for the progress of 
human knowledge and the growth of the Empire compelled certain 
modifications of the ancient ceremonies. It was appropriate enough 
before the days of telegraphs and railroads that mounted couriers 
should ride from town to town and heralds with trumpets should 
announce the accession of Queen Victoria. A portion of the quaint cere- 
mony was preserved. Heralds proclaimed Edward VII. as King in 
all parts of the Empire, but electric wires enabled its being done at 
practically the same moment through the realm. 

The King began the eventful day in his career beside the body of his 
beloved mother in Osborne House. Then the duties of state called him 
away and he began his journey to London. The route from Osborne 
House to Trinity pier was deserted except for a few groups of bare- 
headed persons when, at 9:40 o'clock, three open carriages drawn by 
white horses galloped down the hill. In the first carriage were the 
King, the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of York and Prince Christian. 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 493 

The King looked well and bowed repeatedly in acknowledgment of the 
greetings of his subjects. The royal personages immediately embarked 
on board the Alberta. 

The royal standard was hoisted as the King touched the deck. As 
the Alberta started off signals were shown ordering that no salutes 
should be fired. The crews of the cruiser Australia and the other royal 
yachts were mustered as the Alberta steamed by. The commencement 
of his first voyage as King was a memorable and impressive event. 

Across the narrow channel from the Isle of Wight to the mainland 
the royal party proceeded without marked incident. An escort of war- 
ships was constantly in communication with the yacht. The King and 
his suite entered the capital at 12:55 p. m., and proceeded directly to 
Marlborough House. 

Dense crowds, beginning at St. James' street, lined the entire route 
to Victoria Station from an early hour. The Mall and the front of Buck- 
ingham Palace were especially thronged. All along the former, from 
the palace to Marlborough House, carriages filled with women stood as 
if for a drawing-room, except that the coachmen, footmen and occupants 
were all dressed in mourning. The police precautions were unusual. 
Men on foot and mounted guarded almost every yard of the way. 

The crowds waited patiently for hours to greet their King. Finally, 
preceded by half a dozen mounted policemeUj the new sovereign arrived 
in a plain brougham, which was driven rapidly, with the coachman and 
footman in their usual gray liveries, with mourning bands on their 
arms. An equerry was seated beside him. 

The King was, of course, dressed in the deepest and most simple 
mourning, and carefully raised his hat in acknowledgment of the silent 
uncovering of heads, which was more impressive than the most enthu- 
siastic cheers. The King looked tired and sad, but well. 

Following him came the Duke of York, the Duke of Connaught and 
others. Both the King and the Duke of York looked pathetically up 
at Buckingham Palace as they passed, and acknowledged the salute of 
the guard of honor drawn up inside the palace grounds. The troops 
there and elsewhere showed no signs of mourning, except that the bands 
were not present, but all the oflftcers had crepe on their left sleeve. 

The King drove to St. James' Palace, from Marlborough House, to 
preside at the first Privy Council, by way of Marlborough House yard, 
the Mall and the Garden entrance of the palace. He was attended by 



494 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

Lord Suffleld (who has been Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of 
Wales since 1872) and was escorted by a Captain's escort of the Horse 
Guards. The procedure was exactly as on levee days. 

By the time the King arrived a great gathering of Privy Councilors, 
in levee dress with crepe on their left arms, had taken up positions in 
the throneroom — Cabinet Ministers, peers, commoners. Bishops, Judges, 
the Lord Mayor, etc., including the Duke of York, the Duke of Con- 
naught and lesser members of the royal family. Lord Salisbury, Lord 
Eosebery, A. J. Balfour, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Strathcona and 
Mount Royal and a host of the most prominent personages in the land 
were there to receive the King's formal oath binding him to govern the 
Kingdom according to its laws and customs and hear him assume the 
title of King Edward VIL of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of 
India. 

The ceremony was interesting and according to precedent. The 
King was in a separate apartment from the Privy Councilors, To the 
latter the Duke of Devonshire, Lord President of the Council, formally 
communicated the death of Queen Victoria and the succession to the 
throne of her son, the Prince of Wales. The royal Dukes, with certain 
Lords of the Council, were then directed to repair to the King's presence 
to acquaint him with the terms of the Lord President's statement. 

Shortly afterwards His Majesty entered the room in which the Coun- 
cilors were assembled and addressed them in a brief speech. 

Mingling with the royal Dukes and great personages of the Kingdom 
were a few men in plain clothes to represent the fact that the general 
public have a nominal right to be present. 

The King wore a Field Marshal's uniform and the ribbon of the 
Order of the Garter. When he began his speech his voice was painfully 
broken with emotion, but he recovered as he went on. His brief speech 
was delivered with great earnestness and was quite extemporaneous. 

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Halsbur^^) then administered the oath of 
the King. Afterwards the various members of the Council, commencing 
with Lords in Council, took the oath of allegiance, and then passed in 
turn before His Majesty, as at a levee, excepting that each paused and 
kissed the King's hand before passing out of the chamber. This brought 
the ceremony to a close. 

By 3:30 p. m., when His Majesty returned to Marlborough House, the 
crowd in the neighborhood was of immense proportions. The King's 



EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 495 

prior journey was accomplislied in almost complete silence, but on this 
occasion he was lustily cheered all along the line of route. Immediately 
opposite Marlborough House gates a tall man in front of the crowd 
waved his hat and shouted: "Long live the King!" whereupon the 
crowd cheered with redoubled vigor. 

The Proclamation of the accession of His Majesty was signed by the 
Princes present, the Duke of York first, then the Duke of Connaught, 
the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Mayor and the other representatives of 
the City of London. 

At 4:30 p. m. the artillery began firing salutes in St. James' Park 
to signalize King Edward's accession to the throne. 

Among the incidents of the day was an imposing civic procession. 
The Lord Mayor and Aldermen, accompanied by the City Marshal, mace- 
bearer and other members of the corporation, escorted by a strong body 
of police, proceeded from the Mansion House, by way of the Thames 
embankment and Trafalgar square, to St. James' Palace, in gilded 
equipages, with liveried outriders, including twenty semi-state car- 
riages, making a notable picture, which was witnessed by thousands of 
silent people, who filled the sidewalks along the entire route. 

The House of Lords and the House of Commons assembled at 4 
o'clock and took the oath of allegiance to the new sovereign. The attend- 
ance in the House of Commons was large. All the members, dressed in 
the deepest mourning, stood up as Speaker Gully entered and announced 
that, by reason of the deeply lamented decease of Her Majesty, Queen 
Victoria, it had become their duty to take the oath of allegiance to her 
successor. His Majesty, King Edward VII. The Speaker then adminis- 
tered the oath, and the swearing in of the members proceeded. Joseph 
Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for the Colonies; Sir Michael Hicks- 
Beach, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir Henry Campbell-Banner- 
man, the Liberal leader in the House, and Sir William Vernon Harcourt 
were the first to subscribe their names on the roll. 

In the House of Lords the oath was taken by the Duke of York, the 
Duke of Connaught, Earl Roberts, Lord Rosebery, Lord Salisbury, the 
Duke of Argyll, Lord Lansdowne and a hundred others. The House of 
Lords then adjourned. Many peeresses, in the deepest mourning, were 
in the galleries. 

A special gazette contained the formal announcement of the time 



496 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 

and place of the Queen's death, and added: "This event has caused one 
universal feeling of regret and sorrow to Her Late Majesty's faithful 
and attached subjects, to whom she was endeared by deep interest in 
their welfare, which she invariably manifested, as well as by the many 
signal virtues which marked and adorned her character." Then followed 
a proclamation by the Privy Council, saying: 

"Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to call to His mercy our late 
sovereign lady Queen Victoria of blessed and glorious memory, by 
whose decease the imperial crown of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the high and mighty 
Prince Albert Edward, we, therefore, the Lords spiritual and temporal 
of this realm, being here assisted with those of Her Late Majesty's Privy 
Council, with a number of other principal gentlemen of quality, with 
the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and citizens of London, do now hereby, \sdth 
one voice, consent of tongue and heart to publish and proclaim that the 
high and mighty Prince Albert Edward is now, by the death of our late 
sovereign of happy memory, become our only lawful and rightful liege 
lord, Edward VIL, by the Grace of God King of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, to 
whom we do acknowledge all faith and constant obedience, with all 
hearty and humble affection, beseeching God, by whom all Kings and 
Queens do reign, to bless the royal Prince Edward VII. with long and 
happy years to reign over us." 

Then followed the signatures of the Duke of York, the Duke of Con- 
naught, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, the Ministers, members of the Privy Council, etc. 

It is further announced that at the Council the King subscribed 
to the oath relating to the security of the Church of Scotland and made 
the following declaration : 

"Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords and Gentlemen : This is the most 
painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you. 
My first and melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my 
beloved mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you and the whole 
nation, and, I think I may say, the whole world, sympathize with me in 
the irreparable loss we have all sustained. 

"I need hardly say that my constant endeavor will be to always 
walk in her footsteps in undertaking the heavy load which now devolves 



EDWARD. VIL, KING 'AND EMPEROR. 497 

upon me. I am fully determined to be a constitutional sovereign in the 
strictest sense of the word, and so long as there is breath in my body 
to work for the good and amelioration of my people. 

"I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has 
been borne by six of my ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the 
name of Albert, which I inherit from my ever-to-be-lamented great and 
wise father, who, by universal consent, is, I think, deservedly known by 
the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should stand 
alone. 

"In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me 
in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and 
to which I am determined to devote my whole strength during the 
remainder of my life." 

On the following day (January 24) London was given a glimpse of 
medieval times. The quaint ceremonies with which King Edward VII. 
was proclaimed at various points of the metropolis exactly followed 
ancient precedents. 

The oflftcials purposely arranged the function an hour ahead of the 
published announcement, and the inhabitants, when they awoke, were 
surprised to find the entire way between St. James' Palace and the city 
lined with troops. About 10,000 soldiers, Life Guards, Horse Guards, 
Foot Guards and other cavalry and infantry regiments had been 
brought from Aldershot and London barracks after midnight. 

All the ofl&cers had crepe on their arms and the drums and brass 
instruments were shrouded with crepe. The troops, in themselves, made 
an imposing spectacle, but they were entirely eclipsed by the strange 
spectacle presented by the officials of the college of arms. 

The ceremony began at St. James' Palace, where, at 9 o'clock, 
Edward VII. was proclaimed King of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India. 

There was a large assemblage of officials and college heralds. 
Among those in attendance were General Roberts and members of his 
headquarters staff, and other army officers. There was a great con- 
course of people from the commencement to the close. 

The proclamation was greeted by a fanfare of trumpets. At the con- 
clusion of the ceremony the band belonging to the Foot Guards in the 
Friary Court played "God Save the King." The members of the King's 
household witnessed the ceremony from Marlborough House. 



498 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 

On the balcony overlooking the Friary Court, whence the proclama- 
tion was read, were the Duke of Norfolk and other officers of state. 
The balcony was draped in crimson cloth. Beside the officials, in 
resplendent uniforms, were stationed the state trumpeters. 

Here were seen many prominent persons, among them Sir Henry 
Arthur White, private solicitor to the Queen, the Duke of York and 
other members of the royal family. 

In the yard of Marlborough House and the Friary Court were sta- 
tioned a large body of police, soldiers and Foot Guards. The Foot 
Guards acted as a guard of honor, and they were posted immediately 
beneath the balcony. 

The spectators began to assemble at an early hour. The troops 
arrived at 8 o'clock and shortly before 9 o'clock in the morning a bril- 
liant calvacade passed down the Mall and entered Friary Court. It con- 
sisted of the headquarters staff, headed by the Commander-in-Chief of 
tlie Forces, Field Marshal Earl Roberts, in full uniform and carrying a 
Marshal's baton, and Sir EVelyn Wood, the Adjutant-General of the 
Forces. At 9 o'clock the court dignitaries, headed by the Duke of Nor- 
folk, appeared on the balcony. 

Then the heralds blew a fanfare and Kin g-at- Arms Weldon in the 
midst of dead silence read the proclamation. All heads were bared, and 
as the reading was concluded the King-at-Arms, raising his three-cor- 
nered hat, cried loudly, "God save the King." 

The crowd took up the cry, while the cheers, the fanfares of trumpets 
and the band playing the National Anthem made a curious medley. 

King-at-Arms Weldon read the proclamation in clear tones, which 
were distinctly heard at a great distance. A third fanfare of trumpets 
ended the ceremony. 

The officials then marched in procession from the balcony, through 
the palace, to the Ambassadors' court, where a number of royal car- 
riages had been placed by the direction of the King at the disposal of 
the Earl-Marshal. 

These took the officials, who read the proclamation, to the city, 
escorted by a detachment of Horse Guards, forming a picturesque and 
gorgeous procession. 

The contingent from the College of Arms was composed of three 
Kings-at-Arms, four heralds and eight pursuivants. The costumes of 
the two latter were gorgeous beyond compare. They wore tabards, a 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 499 

garment resembling the costume of kings as depicted on playing cards. 
These tabards were beautifully and heavily embroidered with silk lions, 
the royal coat of arms, and flowers in bewildering profusion. 

There was the rouge dragon, the blue mantle and the maltravers, 
with all the armorial bearings of that quaint old body, the College of 
Arms, in full and solemn array. 

A blare of trumpets announced the progress of the cavalcade as it 
proceeded through Trafalgar square and the Strand. 

The chief interest of the morning centered in the entrance of the 
heralds' procession into the city at Temple Bar. 

The gray minarets of, the law courts and the tall spires of the Strand 
churches loomed, phantom-like, out of the fog, while a long, double line 
of overcoated troops stood, chilled and motionless, along the half- 
deserted streets. 

The clocks in the law courts and St. Dunstan's tolled out mournfully 
the quarter-hours till 9 :15, when out of the gray mist, from within the 
city boundary, appeared a procession of carriages forming the Lord 
Mayor's cortege. 

It was there that the two processions were to merge into kaleido- 
scopic grandeur. The Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen and Mace-bear- 
ers, in scarlet, fur-trimmed robes, cocked hats, ruffled shirts, silk knee 
breeches and low buckled shoes, peered out from the Cinderella-like 
coaches that would have been the envy of Alice in Wonderland. 

Overhead, in the midst of pageant, the great Griffin, which marks the 
city boundary, spread its wide, fantastic wings, like some great Hindoo 
god. In their gold liveries, the white-wigged coachmen of the Lord 
Mayor looked down contemptuously upon the soldier, herald and peer. 

In the olden days a veritable bar, or gate, separated the city from 
without. On this occasion ten strong policemen stretched a red silken 
rope across the thoroughfare, in honor of the city's ancient privileges. 

As the clocks struck the time, the officer in command of the troops 
cried "Attention!" 

The rifle stocks came down with a click upon the asphalt pavement, 
and two gold-laced trumpeters appeared at the Griffin's side. 

The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, Mace-bearers, Chaplain, Remembrancer 
and the white-wigged Judges of the city courts left their carriages and 
grouped themselves together between the lines of drawn-up troops. 
Then the City Marshal, who was on horseback, wearing a uniform of 



500 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR, 

scarlet, gold-laced, with scarlet plumes, rode up to the barrier and the 
Norroy King-of-Arms, whose green and gold tabard outshone those of 
his colleagues, appeared at the imaginary bar. His trumpeter blew a 
shrill blast, which the Lord Mayor's trumpeters answered, and then the 
City Marshal rode up to the barrier and demanded "Who goes there?" 

The Norroy King-of-Arms replied that it was the King's Herald, 
come to read a proclamation. 

"Enter, Herald," said the Marshal, and the Herald was conducted to 
the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, who were still grouped in the streets. 

The Herald then read the proclamation to which the Mayor and 
Aldermen replied: 

"We, with one voice, consent, tongue and heart, pledge allegiance 
to King Edward VII." 

The trumpeters blew a blast, while the wondering crowd stood bare- 
headed and silenced, not knowing what to do, till a military band in the 
procession struck up "God Save the King." This familiar air has still 
but one meaning in England, and the crowd took up the words feebly, 
with "God Save the King" on the tongue, but with "God Save the 
Queen" in mind. 

King Edward published in a special issue of the Gazette letters to 
the people of Great Britain and the colonies thanking them for their 
sympathy on the death of the Queen and their expressions of loyalty to 
himself upon his accession to the throne. 

The King's letter to the people of Great Britain is as follows: 

"Windsor Castle, February 4, 1901. 

"To My People: Now that the last scene has closed in the noble, 
ever-glorious life of my beloved mother, the Queen, I am anxious to 
endeavor to convey to the whole Empire the extent of the deep gratitude 
I feel for the heart-stiiTing, affectionate tributes which are everywhere 
borne to her memory. I wish also to express my warm recognition of 
those uuiversal expressions of what I know to be genuine, loyal sym- 
pathy with me and the royal family in our overwhelming sorrow. Such 
expressions have reached me from all parts of my vast empire, while at 
home the sorrowful, reverent and sincere enthusiasm manifested in the 
magnificent display by sea and land deeply touches me. 

"The consciousness of this generous spirit of devotion and loyalty 
among the millions of my subjects and of the feeling that we all are 
sharing in a common sorrow has inspired me with courage and hope 
during the last most trying and momentous days. 



EDWARD VII.. KING AND EMPEROR. 501 

"Encouraged by confidence in that love and trust which the nation 
ever reposed in its late and fondly mourned Sovereign, 1 shall strive 
earnestly to walk in her footsteps, devoting myself to the utmost of my 
powers to maintaining and promoting the highest interests of my people 
and to a diligent and zealous fulfillment of the great and sacred respon- 
sibilities which, through the will of God, I am now called upon to under- 
take. EDWARD, R. I." 

Following is the King's address to the colonies: 

"To My People Beyond the Seas: The countless messages of loyal 
sympathy that I have received from every part of my dominions over 
seas testify to the universal grief in which the whole empire now mourns 
the loss of my beloved mother. 

"In the welfare and prosperity of her subjects throughout Greater 
Britain the Queen ever evinced a heartfelt interest. She saw with 
thankfulness the steady progress which, under the wide extension of 
self-government, they had made during her reign. She warmly appre- 
ciated their unfailing loyalty to her throne and person, and was proud 
to think of those who had so nobly fought and died for the empire's 
cause in South Africa. 

"I already have declared that it will be my constant endeavor to 
follow the great example which has been bequeathed to me. In these 
endeavors I shall have confident trust in the devotion and sympathy of 
the people and of their several representative assemblies throughout my 
vast colonial dominions. 

"With such loyal support I will, with the blessing of God, solemnly 
work for the promotion of the common welfare and security of our great 
empire over which I have now been called to reign. 

"EDWARD, R. I." 

When King Edward VII. ascended the throne the natural question 
in the public's mind was, "What sort of a King will Queen Victoria's 
eldest son prove to be?" Many questioned his ability to take an active 
part in the direction of the affairs of the nation, and gave as their 
reason the fact that his lack of experience and his distaste for state- 
craft, would necessitate his becoming a mere figurehead, and that the 
real government would be left entirely to his Ministers. 

There can be no greater mistake made than to ascribe any such 
inactive part as this to Albert Edward. In the first place, he has a far 
greater knowledge of foreign and domestic politics than the general 
public for one moment imagines. From the time of his return from 
In®aj mmre thm a tpi&etev of a century ago^ the Fomga Office, by 



603 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 

direction of Queen Victoria, made a practice of forwarding to him at the 
same time as to herself a copy of each important dispatch received from 
abroad, and likewise of the replies sent thereto, thanks to which he was 
enabled on at least three memorable occasions to bring about under- 
standings with foreign powers that the most brilliant of professional 
diplomats had signally failed to accomplish. And while, with a tact 
and a regard for the spirit of the constitution unparalleled on the part 
of any other Prince of Wales in English history, he refrained from 
giving the slightest indication of his preferences for one or another of 
the great political parties in Great Britain, the interest with which he 
followed the debates upon all important issues in Parliament precluded 
all idea that he looked upon national affairs with indifference. 

That he is debarred by the terms of the constitution from taking, as 
sovereign, any active part in the government of the empire, or is reduced 
to the position of a mere figurehead, is likewise an altogether mistaken 
assumption. For the conduct of the international relations of the 
British Empire is vested by the terms of the constitution, not in Parlia- 
ment, nor yet in the latter's executive — that is to say, the Cabinet — but 
in the monarch. It is the prerogative of the sovereign. For the consti- 
tution takes the ground that "it is impossible that the individuals of the 
state in their collective capacity can transact the affairs of that state 
with another community equally numerous as themselves. In the sov- 
ereign, therefore, as in a center, all the rays of the people are united and 
form by that union of consistency the splendor and power that makes 
the monarch respected by foreign countries." What is done by the 
sovereign with regard to foreign affairs is therefore the act of the whole 
nation and is binding upon the latter. Whatever agreement, whatever 
treaties or conventions the sovereign may make with a foreign state, no 
other power in the empire, not even Parliament, can "legally delay, 
resist, or annul." True, the Minister of the Crown who is believed to 
have advised the monarch wrongly can be impeached by Parliament. 
But this impeachment in no way affects the validity of the agreement 
thus indirectly condemned by Parliament, or in any way annuls it. 
Legislative sanction and ratification are therefore not required in 
England for treaties or international arrangements concluded by the 
sovereign, either directly or through the Foreign Minister, and whereas 
the latter's colleagues in the Cabinet are responsible to Parliament, 
he alone, according to the terms of the British constitution, is respon- 



EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 503 

sible solely to the monarch and acts as the delegate of the latter. This 
will show, therefore, that the new ruler of the British Empire, by the 
terms of the English constitution, assumes sole and absolute control 
of the foreign policy of the United Kingdom and that he is thoroughly 
qualified by experience and by his knowledge of international affairs 
for the task. 

With regard to domestic politics and affairs, it is perfectly true that 
the prerogatives of the sovereign are restricted to a greater degree, but 
not to the extent which appears to be generally believed. No statute 
can be enacted or repealed, no new measure put into force, so far as 
domestic affairs are concerned, save with the knowledge and the sanc- 
tion of the duly elected representatives of the people assembled in 
Parliament. But, on the other hand. Parliament cannot enact any law, 
repeal any statute, or put any new measure into force without the con- 
sent of the sovereign, which may be given or withheld as the monarch 
sees fit. There have been numerous instances, though not in the reign 
of Queen Victoria, of sovereigns withholding the royal assent to meas- 
ures enacted by Parliament, the last case having been when King 
George IV. declined in 1829 to give his consent to the measure passed 
by both Houses of the National Legislature admitting Roman Catholics 
for the first time to the offices of State. It may be added that the 
King was ultimately persuaded by Lord Eldon to give way in the 
matter. 

It is this faculty of giving or withholding the royal signature that 
virtually places supreme power in the hands of the English Sovereign, 
for it is not only every Parliamentary measure, but likewise every 
administrative act of any importance that must receive the monarch's 
sign-manual before it can be put into force or become endowed with 
any degree of validity. During the last quarter of a century of Queen 
Victoria's reign it has been estimated that she was obliged to put her 
signature to at least 70,000 official documents of one kind or another 
in the year, or 200 a day, and the new King, like his mother, may be 
trusted to show himself, not only too conscientious, but likewise too 
jealous of his prerogatives, ever to affix his signature to any paper 
before he has read and mastered its contents. 

Another but little known prerogative of the British Sovereign is 
the constitutional right to dismiss either a single Cabinet Minister or 
else the entire administration, if either have ceased to enjoy the con- 
fidence of the monarch. It does not matter whether the Cabinet has 



504 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

a Parliamentary majority or not, and students of history may remember 
that in 1834 King William IV. turned out the administration of Lord 
Melbourne, which had an enormous majority in the Commons, without 
any other reason than that the Cabinet had ceased to enjoy his confi- 
dence. Although the Liberal party was extremely indignant at this 
dismissal, which even the leading Conservatives looked upon as ill- 
judged, no one attempted to deny its perfect legality. 

These facts are mentioned to show that the British monarch is far 
less of a figurehead and of a dummy than is asserted in print, not only 
abroad, but even in England itself, presumably by scribes who have 
never taken the trouble to make themselves acquainted with the con- 
stitutional history of the British Empire. Those who have had the 
privilege of being personally acquainted with the Prince of Wales, and 
who, therefore, have some knowledge of his personality and character, 
have reason for believing that while manifesting the breadth of view 
and the liberal sentiments that have characterized his social reign 
during the last four decades, he will, on the other hand, exercise to their 
fullest extent the rights and prerogatives that are granted to him by 
the terms of the British constitution. He is thoroughly alive to the 
progress of the democratic movement in the old world, and possessed 
of too much common sense not to appreciate that some of the demands 
which it puts forward are justified, and if one may indulge in any 
speculation as to the policy which Albert Edward is likely to pursue, 
it is probable that it will be less conservative than Liberal-Unionist. 
But whatever happens, the new monarch, who now becomes supreme 
head of the Church of England, and "Defender of the Faith," will 
certainly never show himself to be a roi faineant. 

Royalty and riches do not always run together. The Queen of the 
British Empire received, as we used to be told at school, "£1,000 a day 
and £20,000 on her birthday." 

The Queen's official income of £S85,000 a year was half a million less 
than the Emperor of Austria, £200,000 less than King Victor's, £100,000 
less than the Shah of Persia's, and only half as much as the Kaiser's. 
But there is no doubt that Her Majesty got along very well on the 
allowance which she received from the British people. 

It is not difficult to understand how the fable of King Edward's 
poverty while Prince of Wales got abroado The special grant of £36,000 
a year in 1889 probably had something to do with it, There is a story 



EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR, 505 

that when traveling incognito in France at the end of the Franco-Ger- 
man war the Prince of Wales, with his equerry, General Teesdale, was 
obliged to pawn his watch to pay his hotel bill, but such stories are 
told of every monarch. They may be true enough, but nothing would 
be more absurd than to imagine that they indicate anything more than 
absent-mindedness. 

Yet it is on foundations quite as shadowy that the pile of gossip 
and scandal about the Prince of Wales' poverty has been built up. 
The truth is that from the moment of his birth the Prince of Wales 
was splendidly richo He was born, as the Irishman would say, with 
sixty thousand a year in his pocket, and from that day to this the 
Duchy of Cornwall has yielded him that magnificent sum. At twenty- 
two the Prince of Wales married and Parliament gave him Marlborough 
House and a wedding present of £40,000 a year. That, too, came to 
him regularly after 1863, year in and year out. In 1889, when the 
Prince's family ran away with his money. Parliament once more came 
to his aid and nearly doubled the grant he had received since 1863. 

From 1889 the Prince was relieved of the anxieties of a father for 
the financial welfare of his children by a special grant of £36,000 a 
year, which came to him in quarterly instalments of £9,000. So that 
the public income of the Prince of Wales was £136,000 a year. 

We know, however, that the Prince had a private source of income 
— his estates. Sandringham, which he purchased out of his early savings, 
had a rental of £7,000 a year, bringing his income, as we know it, to 
within a few thousand of £150,000 a year. 

The House of Commons, when the Prince was receiving £100,000 
a year, increased his allowance by £36,000, but the grant was by no 
means unanimous, a fa<it which shows that a considerable section of 
Parliament regarded the Prince as sujBaciently rich. The grant was 
made, it may be remembered, to prevent applications to Parliament 
for royal children, a quarterly payment of £9,000 a year being allowed 
out of the consolidated fund, from which the Prince would be able to 
"make such assignments and in such manner to his children as H. R. H. 
should in his discretion think fit." 

Though the proposal was strongly recommended by a select com- 
mittee and supported by Mr. Gladstone, there was a strong opposition 
from some whom Mr. Chamberlain called the "nihilists of English 
politics" — ^among them Mr. John Mortey and Sir William Hancoiirt, 



506 EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 

There had been considerable opposition, too, in the House of Commons 
and in Hyde Park, to the public payment of the expenses of the Prince's 
Indian tour. The Prince spent seventeen weeks in India, and the bill 
came to over £1,000 a day. The Admiralty spent £52,000 in connection 
with the voyage, the Indian Government spent £30,000 on the reception, 
and Parliament gave the Prince £60,000 to spend on himself. 

Totaling up all his Parliamentary grants, his revenues from the 
Duchy of Cornwall, his rental from Sandringham, and his income from 
miscellaneous sources, he had enough money to make him a millionaire 
many times over if money had not a habit of running away. The 
account stands, in round figures, something like £6,106,000. 

Six millions of pounds! Thirty million dollars! Koughly, it is an 
income of £100,000 a year through the whole of his life. Every day 
the heir to the British throne had an income of £274 5s; every hour, 
£11 8s 3d; every minute, 3s 9^d. Every time the clock has ticked since 
the light of Albert Edward dawned on the world his wealth has grown 
by three farthings. It looks undignified enough brought down to 
farthings, but £6,000,000 — forty-five tons of English gold, more than the 
mint makes in a year — is an income to be proud of, even in these 
money-worshiping days. 

But it is not to be supposed, of course, that H. R. H. was a million- 
aire six limes over. If being a Prince means much taking, it means 
much giving and spending, too. The Prince of Wales has given away 
more money than many people know, and everybody knows that he 
was generosity itself in his private life. 

It is said that he never gave a "cabby" less than half a sovereign, 
and everywhere he dispensed what we may call his "pocket patronage" 
on the same generous scale. He paid, contrary to popular belief, for 
all his boxes at the theater. And, again, contrary to popular belief, 
he paid for all his telegrams, letters and parcels. Telegrams and 
stamps cost the Prince £1,000 a year. Like Ordinary citizens, too, 
H. R. H. paid his taxes regularly for Marlborough House, Which, though 
it is the official residence of the heir apparent, is a private house for 
taxation purposes. The Prince paid over £1,000 a year in taxes to 
St. Martin's parish. 

We get some idea of what it costs to be a Prince of Wales from the 
fact that the Prince's military wardrobe was valued at £15,000, and 
was fully insured for that amount., ^very army title the Prince 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 507 

possessed required four complete uniforms — full dress, undress, mess 
dress and overcoat. His private saloon carriage at Boulogne, in which 
he usually traveled on the continent, cost £7,000, and his stables at 
Marlborough House cost £25,000. On his marriage the Prince bought 
a silver dinner service, which was. always used on Derby days, for 
£20,000. 

A glance at the Prince of Wales' donations affords an interesting 
study in royal charity. The Prince's charity was as a Prince's charity 
should be, as cosmopolitan as it well can be. The subscription list of 
the Prince of Wales was broad. 

His public donations, his annual subscriptions are common knowl- 
edge — buried away in newspaper files, but, at any rate, not so secret 
that the left hand does not know what the right hand doeth. In the 
first twenty-five years of his married life over 700 donations by the 
Prince of Wales were recorded, amounting in the aggregate to some- 
thing over £40,000 — an average of about £60 each. That, however, 
takes no account of annual subscriptions, which are reckoned only once. 
The Prince's annual subscriptions, as we shall see, numbered of late 
years between eighty and ninety, with an average of about £22 10s. 

If we suppose that this average was maintained for fifteen years of 
the period under consideration — many of the subscriptions being, of 
course, of comparatively recent date — we shall have to add something 
like 1,200 subscriptions and £27,000 to our figures. This brings the 
total up to £67,000. 

It is interesting to know how H. R. H. distributed his charity, and 
we may classify this quarter of a century's list of donations under 
certain heads. We find, then, that the list stands like this, giving 
round figures: 

Benevolent institutions £ 9,710 

Educational and intellectual 7,450 

Religious ; 7,130 

Social, moral and physical improvement 5,900 

Hospitals and infirmaries !3,280 

Asylums, etc 1,800 

Orphanages 1,320 

Commerce and agriculture 990 

Foreigners in distress 710 

Belief of children , 680 

Women's agencies .,..,.,,..., 670 



508 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR, 

Deaf and dumb 260 

Convalescent homes 240 

Blind 80 



Total £40,220 

In the same twenty-five years H. R. H. contributed £3,083 toward 
fifty-two memorials and statues, besides giving £10,000 toward the 
mausoleum at Frogmore. He built Wolferton schools, too, and presided 
at scores of dinners and festive gatherings in the interests of charity. 
The Prince of Wales, Mr. Rhodes would say, was the greatest asset in 
the world as a chairman. 

At a Freemason's dinner over which the Prince presided a collection 
was made of over £50,000, the biggest Freemason collection in the 
history of the w^orld, and there are dozens of instances which might be 
quoted to show that the presence of the Prince acted like magic with 
men's purses. It is probable, indeed, that the Prince did as much for 
charity by his example as by his purse. 

The Prince of Wales, like the Archbishop of Canterbury, was the 
patron saint of a thousand little worlds. It is one of the penalties of 
being a Prince. 

But we must not forget to allow for special calls. Indian famines, 
war funds, hospital appeals, every great calamity, every occasion of 
great distress, meant that the Prince of Wales must put his hand into 
his pocket. In the first twenty-five years of his married life these special 
calls accounted for £40,000, and if we reckon them since 1887 at the 
same rate we find that they roughly double the annual subscriptions. 
We may reckon, therefore, that the Prince gave away something like 
£S,200 a year in public philanthropy. 

There was considerable discussion at ^e time of King Edward's 
accession to the throne regarding the manner in which Parliament 
would deal with the question of the maintenance of the new King and 
Queen in a style befitting the dignity and the grandeur of the British 
Empire. The arrangements made by Queen Victoria with the House 
of Commons when she succeeded her uncle. King William IV., according 
to the terms of which the amount of her civil list was fijsed at about 
$2,000,000 a yea£, vm^ onl^ &«r tbe duration of hsr reigo, aad termln^pted 
with her ■d^d'dho 



EDWARD VII., KING AND EMPEROR. 505 

There is no point in connection with the English royal family 
concerning which a greater amount of misconception prevails than this 
matter of the civil list. A widespread belief exists to the effect that 
the 12,000,000 a year paid to Queen Victoria throughout her reign of 
more than six decades was in the nature of a salary for her services as 
Sovereign, identically in the same fashion as are the $50,000 per annum 
paid by the United States Treasury to the President of the Republic. 
This impression has been industrially propagated and strengthened by 
the ultra-radical element in the United Kingdom, which is never tired 
of expatiating on the costliness of the monarchy and of holding up the 
members of the royal family to obloquy and contempt as needy 
pensioners on the bounty of the British taxpayer. 

Nothing can be further from the truth than these charges. The 
Princes and Princesses of the blood are in no sense of the word 
pensioners of the national treasury, nor is the monarchy a burden upon 
the revenues of the United Kingdom. The Sovereign possesses by right 
of inheritance an immense amount of extremely valuable property, 
known by the name of Crown property, which belongs to him ex-of&cio 
as a species of life tenant, much in the same way that the majority of 
the territorial magnates in England hold their entailed ancestral 
estates. That is to say, the Crown property cannot be alienated by the 
Sovereign for any period beyond the length of his reign, just as the 
owner of an entailed country place cannot lease it or otherwise dispose 
of it for any term beyond the term of his own life, save with the legal 
consent of his immediate heirs. Following the example of her uncle, 
King William IV., Queen Victoria at the outset of her reign made an 
arrangement with Parliament and with the treasury, whereby, in return 
for her surrender to the State of the major portion of the Crown prop- 
erty for the duration of her life, she received in return an undertaking 
from the nation to furnish her with a civil list of nearly |2,000,000 a 
year, and to provide adequate allowances for the Princes and Princesses 
of the royal house. 

It was not the Queen or her family who made the best of this 
bargain, but the State — ^that is to say, the taxpayers. For, owing to the 
careful management and extraordinary development of the Crown 
property, coupled with the amazing growth in the value of building 
land during the last sixty years, the treasury has, during the greater 
portion of the Queen's reign, managed to net profits of |500,000, and 



510 EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 

during the last quarter of a century of over |1,000,000 a year, from 
the proceeds of the Crown property after all the expenses of its man- 
agement, the civil list of the Queen, and the allowances of the royal 
Princes and Princesses had been deducted. So that instead of Queen 
Victoria and her family having been a source of any expense to the 
national exchequer, it is probable that they have benefited the State 
to the extent of at least |30,000,000 — that is to say, they have relieved 
the taxpayer from that amount of fiscal burden, thanks to the bargain 
concluded by Queen Victoria with Parliament some four-and-sixty 
years ago. 

The allowances subsequently asked of Parliament by the Queen 
for her children and for the members of the royal family in accordance 
with this arrangement were exceedingly modest. The eldest child of the 
Queen — namely, her daughter Victoria, now widowed Empress Fred- 
erick of Germany — received an allowance for her life of |40,000 per 
annum. King Edward while still Prince of Wales was obliged to con- 
tent himself until his children grew up with an allowance of |200,000, 
which on the marriage of his son and of two of his daughters was 
increased by another |175,000 a year for the purpose of enabling him 
to make provision therefrom for them. King Edward's sailor brother 
Alfred received, like his younger brother Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 
1125,000 a year. But on Alfred succeeding to the German throne of 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha he relinquished the major portion of his English 
allowance, which was reduced to $50,000 a year. The three younger 
daughters of the late Queen have each received |30,000 a year in addi- 
tion to the $150,000 down which they received at the time of their 
wedding, and similar annuities of $30,000 a year are granted to the 
widows of King Edward's brothers, the late Dukes of Coburg and 
Albany. 

When one reflects what a little way annuities of $30,000 a year, 
and even of $125,000 a year, go in these days of colossal fortunes and 
of extravagant expenditure, and that the recipients of these allowances 
are expected to maintain royal state and to take the lead in all public 
charities and philanthropic undertakings, it will be admitted that not 
only was the late Queen Victoria singularly modest in the demands 
which she made upon Parliament for the maintenance of the members 
of the royal family but that the latter likewise deserve an immense 
amount of credit for having managed to live within their income. At 



EDWARD VIL, KING AND EMPEROR. 511 

any rate, Parliament has never been called upon to pay any of their 
debts, even out of the profits derived from the state management of 
Crown property. 

Neither Queen Victoria nor her eldest son was entirely dependent 
upon the allowances which they received from the Treasury in respect 
to the Crown property. Thus the Queen retained, as she had a right 
to do, the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, which, after deduction 
of all expenses, amount to about $300,000 per annum, while King 
Edward, Avhen still Prince of Wales, derived a similar amount every 
year from the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, which have been the 
property of the heir to the throne for more than eight centuries. More- 
over, Queen Victoria, of course, retained possession for her life of the 
royal palaces, art treasures, and of the royal parks of Windsor, all of 
which are Crown pix)perty, in which also are comprised all the gold 
and silver plate and the Crown jewels, worth several millions of pounds 
sterling, all of which were turned over to King Edward, but for his 
life only. 

It entirely depended upon King Edward to determine whether he 
would resume possession of the so splendidly developed Crown property 
with its enormously increased revenues, and thus render himself and the 
members of the reigning family financially independent of Parliament 
and of the supervision of the Treasury, thus putting an end once and for 
all time to the radical plaint as to the costliness of royalty, or whether 
he would follow the example of his mother and of his granduncle. King 
William ]V., and consent to leave the Crown property in the hands of 
the State in return for an adequate provision for himself, for his Queen, 
and for the Princes and Princesses of his house. 

Edward VII. has come to the throne when nearly sixty years of age, 
so that in the course of nature his reign cannot be an exceedingly long 
one. It may be expected, however, as it is hoped by the friends of 
civilization in all the world, that he will leave behind him a name 
and a record of his sovereignty worthy of his noble father and his 
great and good mother. 



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